ER Season 16
by Leo Carter
Summary: Season 16 starts at County General as new doctors work to do a good job, and tensions rise in several departments due to under-staffing.
1. Chapter 1

ER Season 16 Episode 1: "Greetings Dr. Martin"

**Starring:**

Noah Wyle (John Carter)

David Lyons (Simon Brenner)

John Stamos (Tony Gates)

Leland Orser (Lucien Dubenko)

Linda Cardellini (Samantha Taggart)

Scott Grimes (Archie Morris)

Alexis Bledel (Julia Wise)

Emily Rose (Tracy Martin)

Hallee Hirsh (Rachel Greene)

And Angela Bassett (Cate Banfield)

**Special Guest Stars:**

John Alyward (Dr. Donald Anspaugh)

Sam Jones III (Chaz Pratt)

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Grace Summers)

**Guest Starring:**

Abraham Benrubi (Jerry Markovic)

Troy Evans (Frank)

Laura Ceron (Chuny Marquez)

Deezer D (Malik McGrath)

Yvette Freeman (Haleh)

Montae Russell (Zadro)

**Scene 1:**

"Donald, you don't understand the kind of strain that my staff is under," Lucien Dubenko said as he continued to plead with County General's venerable Chief of Staff. "Ever since Neela left, the surgery department has been extremely thin."

Dr. Anspaugh frowned as he furled his brow. "Lucien, I have a budget that I have to stick to. Right now we don't have money to go out and bring in another surgeon, especially not a veteran one."

Dubenko was growing more impatient with every passing second. "Find some money! Do something Donald! This hospital will not do anyone any good if there are no surgeons around to patch people back together. Donald, you are a surgeon. You've spent a good deal of time in the OR's in this hospital. You know how important it is to have enough coverage on the surgery floor!"

The older doctor gave Dr. Dubenko a long look before letting out a sigh and giving County General's Chief of Surgery a slight nod.

**Scene 2:**

Dr. Simon Brenner walked into the ER with coffee in hand. The sun was shining brightly, and it had all the makings of being a beautiful September day. That was until we walked in and looked at the patient board. Brenner looked quizzically at the board before looking around for someone who could give him some answers. "Frank, why do we have a full patient board?"

Frank searched for one of those quick sarcastic remarks that he was famous for around the ER. "Well, Dr. Brenner, let me explain how it works here in America. People get sick or hurt and they decide that instead of going out for coffee and doughnuts, they might want to go get their problem checked out. I know that in Australia your people like to roam the Outback and hunt crocodiles, but here in America, people go to the hospital when they need to!"

Brenner just smiled, realizing that Frank was up to his old sarcastic self. "Who's on right now? Who is running the board?"

"It certainly isn't me," the veteran desk clerk proclaimed. "Which means that it has to be an attending…and since you're the only attending here…looks like you're running the board mate!"

"Where's Dr. Banfield? Carter? Morris?"

"Banfield called and said she would be in later. Something about baby problems. Morris isn't on until tonight. And Carter is probably off saving some underprivileged child or maybe a baby elephant."

Brenner suddenly realized that this might not be the most perfect day after all. But he was determined not to let anything get to him today. "What about residents Frank?"

"Dr. Martin is with a drunk in exam one," Frank said in between bites of his doughnut.

"And?" Brenner asked impatiently.

"And what? That's it. Oh, and Pratt is around here somewhere. Probably running around collecting urine samples or whatever second year medical students do."

"So my current staff is me, a first year resident, and a second year med student? Who makes the schedule around here?"

"Don't look at me, I can't do everything around here."

The outlook of the day had just gotten significantly worse for Dr. Brenner. He quickly finished his coffee and put his lab coat on. "It doesn't matter" he thought to himself. "I guess I'll just have to handle everything."

**Scene 3:**

"What is Mr. Franklin's problem?" Brenner asked Dr. Martin as he hurriedly walked in to Exam 1.

Dr. Martin appeared to be a bit nervous. This was the first time she had to be responsible for a patient by herself. Sure, she had seen many patients during her time as an intern, but she always had someone like Dr. Gates looking over her, and making sure that she did not mess things up. "He's complaining of a headache."

"I'm sure he is Tracy. The man is clearly hungover. Get him something for his headache, tell him to stop drinking and discharge him."

"But Dr. Brenner…" Tracy started before her voice trailed off. Dr. Brenner turned around and waited for the rest of her sentence. "What if he has cirrhosis or something like that do to his drinking?"

"Does he have signs of jaundice Dr. Martin?"

"No…"

"Then discharge him. I know you are trying to be thorough and not make any mistakes in your first day as a resident"

"But, what if…?"

"Dr. Martin, discharge your patient and then meet me at admit. We have an entire board to clear."

"Who is we?" Dr. Martin asked.

"Just discharge your patient and meet me out front. I no longer have the time to discuss this with you any further. And if you cannot do what I ask, I think you know where the door is."

Dr. Brenner stormed out of Exam 1 and Tracy knew that he meant business. She motioned over to the big veteran nurse who was restocking one of the crash carts. "Malik, I need you to take care of Mr. Franklin here."

Malik gave the drunk man a quick look-over and the dejection in his face became hard to hide. "Let me guess. First you want me to clean him up. Then you are going to want me to sober him up. And once that's done, you want me to get him out of here, right?"

"Thanks so much Malik," Tracy said as she hurriedly left the room.

The big male nurse just rolled his eyes and looked at the drunk man that he was now in charge of. "Alright Mr. Franklin, I'm going to call you Benjamin, and Benjamin owes me after this one."

**Scene 4:**

"How was your first day of classes Rachel?" John Carter asked as the two of them sat down for lunch outside in the backyard of the Carter mansion. It was a beautiful September day, the birds were chirping and the sun was out. Carter seemed very content to enjoy his afternoon before he had to go into work at his newly opened Carter Center later that evening. Carter had the day off at County today so he planned on spending the day doing what he loved to do: enjoy the beautiful outdoors and spend time with Rachel Greene. Carter had promised Dr. Corday that he would keep an eye on her in exchange for her letting Rachel go to med school at County.

"Class is boring. Human physiology is not very much fun and the stuff we're learning in human anatomy is stuff I already know so far," the young 22 year old said as she started to eat her sandwich.

Carter just laughed. "Don't worry Rachel, class will get more exciting. And more difficult. Do you have any good professors?"

"There was this old doctor in there today. He had someone helping him teach. He seemed really brilliant one minute and then didn't appear to know where he was or what he was talking about the next minute. I think his name is Dr. Lawrence."

Carter sat back in his chair, completely stunned to hear that name. Gabriel Lawrence was a name he had not heard in quite some time. "Dr. Lawrence was your professor today?"

"Yeah, but Dr. Anspaugh was in there and said Dr. Lawrence was just going to be here until the professor who is supposed to teach the class gets here next week or something. Why is it so shocking that Dr. Lawrence was teaching my ER procedure class?"

Carter took a drink of his Coca Cola and put his hands behind his head. "Dr. Lawrence was an attending in the ER probably 9 years ago now. One of the most brilliant doctors I have ever had the privilege of working with."

"Does that mean that he worked with my dad?"

"Oh yeah, Dr. Greene and Dr. Lawrence were both attendings at the same time. They did not get along very well however."

"Why not? I don't remember Dad ever mentioning a Dr. Lawrence."

"Dr. Lawrence was hired by Dr. Weaver to be the third attending in the ER. You see, Dr. Weaver had just been named Chief of Emergency Medicine over Dr. Greene, and hired Dr. Lawrence because Dr. Lawrence taught Dr. Weaver everything she knows. Your dad and him didn't really see eye to eye. He had a different way of doing things than your dad did, and he routinely forgot whose patients were whose and all sorts of things."

**Scene 5:**

Dr. Brenner waited impatiently at the desk for Dr. Martin to join him. "Frank, where is Chaz at?"

"Hell if I know," the desk clerk replied. "Do I look like a psychic?"

"Frank do us both a favor and go find him," Brenner said, his impatience growing.

Just then, both Chaz Pratt and Tracy Martin arrived at the admit desk where Brenner was waiting. Chaz had just gotten finished running a chart up to Dr. Cason in cardiology, and Tracy still appeared to be a little bit shaken up from her conversation with Brenner just minutes before.

"Nice of both of you to join me this afternoon," Brenner said as he motioned towards the full patient board. He took an eraser and erased Mr. Franklin's name from the board. "Can either of you tell me what is wrong with this picture?" he asked, now going into teacher mode. Earlier in Exam 1 with Tracy, it is all business.

Pratt was the first one to speak. "It looks pretty full Dr. Brenner."

"That would be a correct assessment Chaz. Dr. Martin, do you know what the three of us are going to do now?"

Dr. Martin looked up at the board and wished she was still a med student. As a med student, one of the residents would tell her what to do and where to go, but at least then she did not have such a huge responsibility. "From what you said in Exam 1, I think we are supposed to clear the board."

Pratt looked at both older doctors and was completely stunned. "Dr. Brenner, I'm just in my second year. I don't think I'm supposed to be seeing patients by myself."

Brenner looked back at the board as he responded to Pratt, not even looking at the young med student as he spoke to him. "You know how to do sutures right Chaz?"

"Well, yeah…"

"Then you have the patients in Exam 2. All need suturing of some kind. Read their charts and make sure you stitch them up properly. And don't worry, Haleh is in there right now and she'll monitor you. She might have the best hands for suturing in this entire hospital."

"What do I do when I'm done with them?"

"Once you're done and Haleh thinks you've done a good enough job, bring me the charts so I can sign off on them and then discharge them. Make sure you erase their names from the board. By the time Banfield gets here I want this board to be clear."

**Scene 6:**

Dr. Brenner and Dr. Martin started on their task to discharge as many patients as possible. "Dr. Martin, diagnose and treat as many people in Curtain 1 and Curtain 2 as possible. And then take Chuny with you and clear those people out of the waiting room."

"And if I need you?"

"Bring me all the charts to have my sign off on them, but trust your instincts and make the correct calls. You're a resident now. And you're a good doctor. If I didn't think so, then I wouldn't leave you by yourself."

Just then Frank yelled across the room to Brenner. "Paramedics are bringing in some guy complaining of belly pain. Fell off a ladder trying to clean his gutters. ETA 5 minutes."

With that Dr. Brenner went outside to meet the paramedics and Dr. Martin was left alone. "You can do this" she thought to herself. As she entered Curtain 1 she was greeted by a young mother with an 8 year old son. "Hello, my name is Dr. Martin. What seems to be the problem today?"

The mother spoke first. "My son was doing something that he said was "jumping rope without a rope" in gym class and he fell down and hurt his ankle. I'm not that old, but back in my day, if you were going to jump rope, then they would at least give you the rope. The educational system is falling apart, let me tell you. Do you have children Dr. Martin?"

Tracy was more concerned with treating this child and getting him out of there instead of listening to some crazy woman rant. "No, I don't. I'm not married." She turned to the crazy woman's son. "Hey buddy, what's your name?"

He was a little shy at first, but that didn't last long. "Ricky," he said.

"Ricky can you tell me where it hurts?" Ricky touched his right ankle. "Ok, I am going to turn your ankle from side to side slightly and you tell me if it hurts, ok?" Ricky nodded and Tracy began the procedure. It was not long before he let out a shriek of pain.

Tracy turned back to the boy's mother. "Ma'am, your son has a grade one sprain of his right ankle. Nothing too serious, but he'll need to stay out of gym class for a couple weeks. Chuny will wrap it up and fit your son for crutches."

"What should I do about the pain?" the mother asked.

"Just give your son some Tylenol or Advil." Tracy then turned back to Ricky. "Ricky, I want you to stay off your ankle for at least two weeks, ok? Stay on the crutches that Chuny gives you until your ankle starts to feel better. Can you do that for me?"

Ricky nodded and Tracy wrote down the instructions for Chuny on the boy's chart.

**Scene 7:**

"What have you gotten yourself into?" Chaz Pratt asked himself as he walked in to Exam 2. Haleh, the veteran nurse who had been at County for more than 30 years was in there waiting for him. Haleh was a straight-shooter who always got right to the point.

"Come on Dr. Pratt, these sutures aren't going to suture themselves. Let's go, we have a lot of work to do.

Pratt looked at the three people, two men and one woman sitting there waiting for him. He hadn't been this nervous since the time that Dr. Morris let him do procedures. But at least with Dr. Morris there was someone there who could catch him if he fell. Today he was on his own with three strangers and one overly intimidating nurse.

"Earth to Dr. Pratt," Haleh audibled from across the room. "We can start any day now."

Chaz took a deep breath. "What would Gregg do if he was here?" he thought to himself. Then he remembered his older brother's last words…"Don't screw up."

Chaz walked over to the first man, a construction worker who got hit in the head with a beam. Haleh offered to show him the first one and then let him go at the next two by himself. Pratt watched as Haleh made the procedure look easy. Brenner was right about her hands…she made this whole process look so effortless. Pratt continued to watch as Haleh finished up with the first patient and closed up his stitches.

"Alright Dr. Pratt, it's that simple. Do you think you can do this?" Haleh asked him as she directed him over to the other two patients. Pratt nodded hesitantly.

"Don't worry so much hunny," Haleh said reassuringly. "Gregg wasn't a pro at it his first time either. Oh, and then there's Carter. Talk about a doctor who had no clue. When he first got here 16 years ago, he knew nothing about medicine. And now look at him, opening his own clinic and all. If he can do it, anyone can."

Chaz then sat down in front of the next patient. She was a high school soccer player and had a nasty gash on her left leg from where she had been cleated at soccer practice the day before. Pratt's hands were shaky, but then he remembered his brother and settled down.

"So you like soccer, huh?" he asked the girl as he started to stitch her up.

"I love it!" she responded emphatically and then went on talking up a storm. "I've been playing since I was 5 years old. I play all year. When it gets cold out and snows, then I play in indoor leagues. I travel too. All over the place. This weekend we're going to Texas for a big tournament. It is going to be so much fun!"

With all of the talking the girl was doing, Chaz was surprised how fast he got done.

**Scene 8:**

Dr. Brenner met Zadro out in the ambulance bay. "What have you got for me?"

"34 year old male fell off of a ladder trying to clean his gutters. Complaining of belly pain. No visible bleeding that we could see, but we started him on saline. His name is Mr. Jenkins."

"Thanks Zadro," Brenner said as he took the cart from him. He saw Sam checking on some charts at the desk. "Sam I could use a hand. Frank, what's open?"

"Pratt just cleared those three suture people out of Exam 1. You could take your ladder climbing friend there."

Brenner and Sam wheeled Mr. Jenkins in to Exam 1. "Mr. Jenkins, my name is Dr. Brenner and this is Nurse Taggart. Can you tell me what happened?"

The man had scrapes on his face and hands and he was obviously in a lot of pain. "I was cleaning out my gutters and then Shelby my dog ran into the ladder and I lost my balance and fell."

"Can you tell me where it hurts Mr. Jenkins?" Mr. Jenkins put his hand near his stomach. "Are you allergic to any medications?" The injured man shook his head no, obviously still in a lot of pain.

"Sam start him on two liters of morphine," Dr. Brenner instructed. "Now Mr. Jenkins, I am going to feel around with my hands and if you feel any discomfort, let me know right away."

Jenkins nodded in agreement and Dr. Brenner began looking for the injury. Just then, Mr. Jenkins winced in tremendous pain.

"Looks like he may have burst his appendix," Sam observed. "Should I call for surgery to come down here?"

"Yeah, get a surgeon down here right away. This man has a blown appendix that needs to be taken out now."

Sam got on the phone to the OR but the news was not good. "Dubenko is in surgery right now and Crenshaw isn't supposed to be on until 4:00."

Brenner thought for a moment and then made a quick decision. "We'll have to take him up then. Tell Dubenko that he'll have a patient waiting for him when he gets out of surgery."

Just as Sam and Brenner started to move Mr. Jenkins, Dr. Brenner heard a voice that he had been dreading all day. Brenner told Sam to take Mr. Jenkins up to the OR as he dealt with it.

"Dr. Brenner, what in the hell is going on down here?" Dr. Cate Banfield demanded.

**Scene 9:**

"Dr. Carter do you need anything while I'm up?" Rachel Greene asked.

"No, I'm fine. You better get back to your studies anyway. Both your mother and Elizabeth will kill me if you don't keep up with your schoolwork."

"I will, I will," the younger Greene said. "I just want to hear the rest of the story about my dad and Dr. Lawrence. All those years living with my mom, I really didn't get to hear a lot of stories about what my dad did at work."

Carter continued to reminisce about the past. That was back when Weaver ran the ER, Dr. Greene was still alive, Dr. Benton was still running around in surgery, and then he thought about his med student Lucy Knight and the attack that left him abusing pain killers and ended up killing her. The thought of Lucy brought a frown to Carter's face; a frown that he could not hide from Rachel.

"What's wrong Dr. Carter?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's been a long time since back then. I really looked up to your dad a lot. He didn't let me quit when I wanted to and he was tough on me when he needed to be. I miss Dr. Greene a lot."

Dr. Greene's daughter's happy and chipper attitude suddenly became very somber as well. "I know. I miss him too. I miss him every day. But at least I have memories of him. Poor Lea will never know what an amazing dad she had."

Carter could sense the sadness in Rachel's words and he figured that he needed to get back to the story. "Ok, so back to Dr. Lawrence," Carter began. "He began forgetting people's names and ordering tests that were used back in the 70's. He finally blew up at Dr. Weaver in front of a patient over some new suture kits. Then he lost his glasses and Malik found them in the fridge. At that point, Dr. Weaver and your dad decided that they needed to let him go."

"How did he take the news?" Rachel asked, as interested in the story as ever.

"Dr. Lawrence knew it was coming for some time, because he just couldn't remember anything anymore. But he really saved me on his last day right before leaving the ER."

"What did he do?"

Carter smiled, remembering how the old senile man was able to diagnose and treat a case that he had no clue about. "I had this patient who was presenting with all these symptoms. Then he flat-lined and I had no idea what to do. I saw him in the hall and he came in and pulled off a miracle. That was the last time he ever had a patient."

**Scene 10:**

"Malik, hold the elevator," Sam called out as she hurriedly pushed Mr. Jenkins into it.

"Where are we going?"

"Mr. Jenkins has to go to the OR and Dubenko was busy so I'm taking him up and finding a surgeon to perform an appendectomy."

The doors of the elevator blew open and Sam started pushing Mr. Jenkins down the hall, looking for any surgeon who could take this poor man's appendix out before it ended up killing him. "Just don't crash on me until I can get you some help," Sam said to Mr. Jenkins, who was very unconscious.

Sam wheeled Mr. Jenkins into one of the OR's and was confronted by a nurse once arriving there.

"Who is this and why is he here?" the OR nurse asked Sam.

"This is Mr. Jenkins and he is in need of an emergency appendectomy," Sam explained. "If someone doesn't get his appendix out now this man will die!"

The nurse could see how serious Nurse Taggart was, but there was nothing she could do for her. "I'm sorry, but Dr. Dubenko and all of the other surgeons are currently in surgery. There is no one who will be able to help you."

Sam was not about to accept that answer. "Well get in there and tell someone that they need to get their ass out here and take care of _this_ patient!" Sam proclaimed. "Or find me someone, _anyone_ who will be able to take this man's appendix out!"

The nurse looked at her watch. "Well, it is only 3:45. Dr. Anspaugh should still be here. If you can convince him to help your patient then go for it. If not, then I really can't help you, I'm sorry."

Sam rushed out of the OR and ran down the hallway, knocking over anything and anyone in her way. "This man will not die here today because we are understaffed!" Sam thought to herself. "I cannot, will not, allow that to happen!"

Sam finally got to the end of the long hallway and rushed into Dr. Anspaugh's office without even knocking. Anspaugh was looking over some of the paperwork that was his responsibility as Chief of Staff. "Nurse Taggart, can I help you?" Anspaugh asked as he looked up from his desk.

Sam explained the condition that Mr. Jenkins was in and the fact that all of the surgeons were busy. Anspaugh agreed to do the procedure on one condition. "I know you have been taking shifts up here Nurse Taggart," Anspaugh began. "I want you to scrub in on this one."

"I'll be glad to help," Sam said triumphantly.

**Scene 11:**

Dr. Martin was proud of herself as she dealt with Ricky. She was confident and knew what she was doing, and she gave Chuny perfect notes as to how to proceed with the young eight year old. Now it was time for her next challenge.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Martin," she said as she approached the next bed. "And you are?"

"I'm Grace. Grace Summers." The young woman said in response. Grace had nice, natural blonde hair and what looked like a pretty smile. Her nose was pretty unique, but Tracy assumed that was something that Grace was proud of. Her nose made her part of who she was.

"Miss Summers can you tell me what the problem is?" Tracy asked her, pen in hand, ready to take thorough notes.

"You can call me Grace," she replied smiling. "I've been throwing up every morning for the last three weeks, and I'm always really hungry. And my appetite has been really strange lately."

Tracy thought about the symptoms and all of the signs pointed to one thing. "Grace, do you have a boyfriend or are you seeing anyone at the moment?"

Grace gave Tracy a sheepish smile. "Yeah, his name is Angel and he is the best thing I could ever ask for," Grace said, her face lighting up noticeably at the mention of her boyfriend. "Why do you ask?"

"From the symptoms you listed, it sounds like you could be pregnant. Have you two been trying to get pregnant?"

Grace looked confused. "We would both love to have kids, but I didn't that was possible for us. Are you sure I'm pregnant?"

Chuny was just finishing up with Ricky when Tracy called her over. "Chuny, can you get me an ultra-sound machine."

"You got it."

Tracy then explained what she was going to do to Grace. "I'm going to perform an ultrasound. That will either confirm or deny your pregnancy. Once we know for sure what we're dealing with, we will be more able to give you the appropriate treatment."

"Will I have to stay here overnight?"

"Yes, I want to keep you overnight for observation. If everything checks out you'll be able to go home tomorrow." Just then Dr. Banfield walked in and requested her presence.

**Scene 12:**

Dr. Martin followed Dr. Banfield into the staff lounge to find both Dr. Brenner and Chaz Pratt there waiting as well. She could tell right away that this was not going to be a real positive meeting. She noticed the look of disdain on Dr. Banfield's face and decided that it was time to brace for impact.

"Would someone like to let me know what the hell is going on in my ER today?" Banfield demanded. "I walk in here and there are patients everywhere. There's a med student sitting in Exam 2 performing sutures on patients and a resident on her first day on the job, her _first_ day, without any supervision! Who would like to start explaining?"

All three doctors just looked at each other as Dr. Gates walked into the lounge to put his stuff away. He looked from Brenner to Martin to Pratt and was afraid he was missing something. "Was there supposed to be a staff meeting that I didn't know about?" he asked.

Banfield's ire now turned to Gates. "Dr. Gates, I highly suggest that you leave this room right now and go see if Frank has any new patients for you. Unless you really want to be included in this!"

Gates looked at the three doctors again and decided it was in his better health to leave as quickly as possible. He then approached Frank at the desk and asked, "Frank, what's wrong with Banfield today?"

"She's in one of her moods," the desk clerk explained. "She was supposed to be here at 7:00 AM and it's 4:00 and she's just getting here. Just be thankful you haven't been here all day, Brenner has had his Aussie hands full."

Back in the staff lounge, Banfield demanded an explanation for the mass chaos that she had witnessed when she first walked in. After scolding Pratt for doing procedures by himself, she sent him home. Next up was Dr. Martin.

"Dr. Martin, do you know that this is your first shift as a resident around here?"

"Yes ma'am," Tracy replied nervously.

"And do you know that an attending needs to sign off on all your cases before they can leave?"

Dr. Brenner now spoke up for the first time. "Tracy has kept me informed with all of her cases and if you look at all her discharge papers, my name is at the bottom. And as for what you saw when you walked in, we have had a full ER all day and the only people here were Dr. Martin and Dr. Pratt. I did what I thought was best to take care of as many people as we could."

"That doesn't make sense. We should never be that short. Who does the schedule?" Banfield asked him before realizing that none of this would have happened if she scheduled people better.

**Scene 13:**

Dr. Martin left the staff lounge after being dismissed by Banfield and went to go pick up a chart at the desk. She looked at her watch, which read 5:30 PM. "Good, only a half-hour before I can go home and forget about this miserable day," she thought to herself. Just then she heard Chuny coming up beside her.

"Dr. Martin, I have the ultrasound machine in Grace Summers' room. Do you want to do the ultrasound or should I have Gates do it?"

Tracy remembered her patient Grace Summers was sitting in Exam 1 patiently waiting to find out what was wrong with her. "I'll do it, thanks for reminding me Chuny."

Tracy went back and started the ultrasound on Grace Summers. She looked a little frazzled, something that wasn't lost on Grace.

"Is everything ok Dr. Martin?" she asked. "After that other doctor came in here and got you, you seem like something is bothering you."

"Oh, it's nothing. This is my first day as a resident and it's just been a really long one," Tracy explained.

"I think it has something to do with that bitchy doctor," Grace observed. "She seems like a demon or something. Maybe she needs to be staked."

Tracy looked up from the ultrasound. "What did you just say Grace?" she asked. "You have quite a funny sense of humor. Really, Dr. Banfield is fine, she's just a little headstrong."

"If you ever have reason to believe that she's an evil being that needs to be taken out, let me know. Me and the people I work with specialize in getting rid of…uh…let's say pests," Grace explained as Tracy was finishing up the ultrasound.

"Ok Grace, I see a mass that looks like it could be a baby. We won't know for sure until we do some blood tests. We'll have those results tomorrow morning for you. But I still want you to stay overnight for observation." Tracy looked at her watch. "I'm off, but I'll see you tomorrow."

Grace Summers was extremely happy to finally be getting some answers. "Thank you so much Dr. Martin," she exclaimed. "Since I have to stay overnight, is it alright if my boyfriend stays with me?"

Tracy finished making notations on Grace's chart. "That won't be a problem at all. I will let the desk clerk know that he is coming. What is his name again?"

"Angel."

**Scene 14:**

Dr. Martin went to her locker to get her things, as she was done for the day. This twelve hour shift, 6 AM to 6 PM had left her completely exhausted. Dr. Brenner was also getting his things so that he could leave for the day.

"How was your first day Tracy?" the Australian doctor asked her.

Tracy looked at the attending and could think of only one thing to say. "How do you do it every day Dr. Brenner?" she asked.

The Australian shut his locker and the two of them walked out together. "You do the best job possible every single day. Then you go home and start from scratch the next day. You can't let the good cases get you too high or the bad cases get you too low. You just come in here every day and remind yourself that you are going to make a difference in someone's life."

Martin thanked him and told him that she would see him tomorrow. She promised Grace Summers that she would left the desk know that her boyfriend would be stopping by later that night. Frank had gone home for the night and was replaced by the big, massive desk clerk with the thick grey beard.

"Jerry, I have a patient in Exam 1 who is staying overnight for observation. I told her that we would let her boyfriend stay with her. His name is Angel."

"If he's such an angel, then why does he have a pregnant girlfriend here?" Gates joked with Jerry. "Don't worry Tracy, we'll let the guy in."

Tracy finally got outside of the hospital and was glad to breathe some fresh air. The sun was still out and she was looking forward to relaxing for the rest of the night until her shift started at 6:00 AM tomorrow.

"Greetings, Dr. Martin," came Archie Morris' voice as he walked through the ambulance bay. Morris, one of the four attending physicians currently on staff in the ER was working the night shift tonight with Gates, Banfield, and med student Julia Wise. "How was your first day as a resident?"

"Are they all that hard?" Tracy asked.

"Some are harder than others, but do you know what I do when I am getting stressed out?"

"No what?"

"I go around and play tricks on Frank and Jerry. You know, hide their paperwork and stuff like that. It really works too. Try it sometime," Morris joked as he walked in to start his shift.


	2. Chapter 2

ER Season 16 Episode 2: "There are Angels Among Us"

**Starring:**

Noah Wyle (John Carter)

David Lyons (Simon Brenner)

John Stamos (Tony Gates)

Leland Orser (Lucien Dubenko)

Linda Cardellini (Samantha Taggart)

Scott Grimes (Archie Morris)

Alexis Bledel (Julia Wise)

Emily Rose (Tracy Martin)

Hallee Hirsh (Rachel Greene)

And Angela Bassett (Cate Banfield)

**Special Guest Stars:**

John Alyward (Dr. Donald Anspaugh)

Alan Alda (Dr. Gabriel Lawrence)

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Grace Summers)

David Boreanz (Angel Dank)

**Guest Stars:**

Troy Evans (Frank)

Laura Ceron (Chuny Marquez)

Yvette Freeman (Haleh)

Amy Aquino (Dr. Janet Coburn)

Julian Morris (Dr. Andrew Wade)

Montae Russell (Zadro)

**Scene 1:**

"Emergency Room procedure is much different today than it was back when…" Dr. Gabriel Lawrence started before trailing off. Lawrence knew that he was losing his battle with Alzheimer's and that the end of life as he knew it was coming relatively quickly. The veteran doctor, who had been an attending in the ER at County General 10 years ago, had fought this crippling disease with everything he had. But after 10 years of state of the art medications and careful monitoring, Lawrence was having a hard time remembering much of anything anymore, a fact that was not lost on young Rachel Greene.

"I talked to a doctor who used to work with Dr. Lawrence," Rachel explained to her classmate Sara. "He is a brilliant man but has Alzheimer's and it's apparently pretty advanced."

"No kidding," Sara replied. "I wonder why they still let him teach."

**Scene 2:**

"Zadro, what do we got?" Archie Morris yelled as the doors to the ER swung open.

"GSW to the chest and left leg," the EMT replied steadily. "Apparently Marcus here got tied up with the wrong crowd and ended up getting shot a couple of times in a robbery gone bad. We hung two units of O-negative in the field and performed CPR in route." Zadro had been dropping off emergency patients at County General for years and all of the doctors appreciated his thoroughness.

Archie looked at who he had around him. "Get ready to move on my mark!" he ordered to Dr. Julia Wise, Sam Taggart and Chuny Marquez. Marcus was a young adult, probably between 18-20 from what Archie could determine. And from the looks of the numerous tattoos, it would not be a stretch to think that he was part of one of the many gangs that patrol the streets of Chicago. With all of the injuries that he had sustained, Marcus did not appear to be breathing on his own.

"We're going to need to intubate," Morris announced. "Dr. Wise, you've performed an intubation before, right?"

"Yes…a couple of times…" Julia Wise said nervously. She was beginning her last year of medical school and was one of the new ER interns. She knew that she would have to perform this procedure numerous times, but it did not help her calm down any.

"Alright, you're up," Dr. Morris said as he handed Julia the intubation kit. Julia took it nervously, but Archie was there walking her through it every step of the way. "Visualize the vocal cords," he instructed her, "and pass the tube through them."

Dr. Wise did as Morris told her, but she was having a problem. "I can't see anything!" she exclaimed, as one of the monitors in the trauma room started to go off.

"Heart rate is falling," Sam Taggart announced. "He's going into v-fib."

Archie decided it was time to take over, and Dr. Wise gladly turned the reins over to him. He gave a quick look at the intubation procedure as he barked more orders. "Sam, charge the paddles to 200! Once we get him stable he's going to need surgery because of the major obstruction in his throat. There's way too much blood. Chuny, go find Dubenko and tell him that we have a kid that is going to die on the table if he doesn't get in here!"

"Paddles charged to 200," Sam said as she handed Archie the paddles.

"Clear!" Archie exclaimed as he shocked Marcus' chest.

"Still v-fib," Sam said, updating the situation.

"Charge to 250," Archie ordered, refusing to let Marcus die on him.

**Scene 3:**

Dr. Martin walked into Grace Summers' hospital room that morning with the results of the tests that Grace had taken the night before. Martin had gotten plenty of sleep last night, as that first day as a resident in the ER really wore her out.

"Good morning Grace," Tracy said with a smile. Grace Summers had been one of the only bright spots of her day the day before. She was nice, courteous, and was the one patient that day that did not give her a hard time. "How was your night?"

Grace motioned over to the man still sleeping in the chair next to her bed. "It was excellent! Angel got here past visiting hours, but that doctor—Gates I think—let him stay. I always feel so much more comfortable knowing that he is here with me."

Tracy smiled again, seeing the love that Grace and Angel had for each other firsthand. "I got your test results back and I have some good news for you," she started.

Grace sat up attentively in her bed. "Am I pregnant Dr. Martin?" she asked eagerly.

"Yes you are," Dr. Martin told her. "From what I can tell here, the baby looks like it should be very healthy."

The news brought a tear to Grace's eyes. "You have no idea what this means to me Dr. Martin," she explained. "Angel and I have been through so much together. I didn't think this day was ever going to happen. It's just a miracle! Angel is going to be so happy. Thank you Dr. Martin, thank you so much!"

"You don't need to thank me, I really didn't do anything," Tracy said. "I know you probably have questions and want to see pictures of your baby and everything. Dr. Coburn will be down shortly to answer any questions you might have."

"Dr. Coburn?"

"She's the Chief of Gynecology," Tracy told Grace, realizing that Grace would have no reason to know who Janet Coburn was before today. "She's been at this hospital for a very long time and she's extremely good at what she does. You'll be in excellent hands with her, I promise."

Tracy filled out Grace's chart and was about to leave when Grace started talking again. "Dr. Martin, are you married?" she asked.

"No, I'm currently very single. Why do you ask Grace?"

Grace smiled again, looking over at her boyfriend sleeping in the chair once again. "Dr. Martin, I hope you find someone as amazing as Angel is to me. It's been a crazy rollercoaster ride, but look at where we are now. It's really worth it!"

**Scene 4:**

"Paddles charged at 250," Sam said, as she and Dr. Morris continued to desperately try to save Marcus' life.

"Clear!" Morris said, right before shocking Marcus again.

"Still v-fib," Sam said, keeping Archie aware of the situation.

"Again!" Archie shouted, shocking Marcus for a third time.

"We have sinus rhythm," Sam informed him as three doctors entered the trauma room. Cate Banfield, Lucien Dubenko, and Andrew Wade all came in wanting information.

"Status, Dr. Morris," Banfield ordered. As Chief of Emergency Medicine she was not always well liked, but all of her doctors respected her greatly.

"Patient's name is Marcus," Archie said. "Came in with gunshot wounds to the left leg and chest. Tried to intubate, but there's an obstruction. We just got his heart beating again but this guy needs surgery now or he's going to die!"

Lucien Dubenko, Chief of Surgery at County General, saw this as an excellent opportunity to teach his newest resident, Andrew Wade, something new. "Dr. Wade, how can clear the obstruction so that we can intubate?"

The young surgical resident thought for a second before speaking. "If he has a gunshot wound in the chest, we need to go in and pull the bullet out."

Part of his job was to make his staff as good as possible, and that is why Dr. Dubenko always challenged his students to come up with the answers on their own. After all, that is what he did with Neela, and she turned out ok. Dubenko pointed at Sam who was still bagging Marcus in lieu of an intubation. "The patient isn't stable enough for surgery until we get him intubated," Dubenko told Wade as a monitor went off.

"Pressure's dropping," Sam announced. "We're still fine for now but we won't be for long."

Dr. Morris was through just sitting back as a young surgeon got taught something new. "My patient doesn't have time for any more question and answer periods!" Archie asserted.

Banfield agreed with her attending. "Lucien, now is not the time for teaching. Do something now or I will!"

Dubenko acknowledged Banfield's request. "Sam, please get me a scalpel," he said.

**Scene 5:**

"Frank, where am I needed?" Dr. Carter asked the desk clerk as he came out of the staff lounge with a cup of coffee in hand. Carter had not had a shift at County General in nearly a week, as he had been spending much of his time at the newly opened Carter Center.

"What's the matter Carter?" Frank asked sarcastically. "Are there not any orphans that need saving today?"

Carter laughed at Frank's sense of humor. "No, today my focus is entirely on County," he said. "Although, I may need to…borrow…a few supplies."

"That's fine with me," Frank replied. "Just don't let Banfield find out. If she has any clue what you're doing, life will become hell for everyone around here."

"Thanks for the advice Frank," Carter said as he picked up a chart from the rack. "What's up in Exam 1?"

"Gates has a pack of boy scouts who got poison ivy ca…" Frank started but did not finish as Carter began to walk away from him. Julia Wise had just rushed out of one of the trauma rooms and into the staff lounge, visibly upset.

"Tell Gates that I'll check on him later," Carter told Frank as he walked back towards the staff lounge. "Or better yet, give it to Brenner."

"Give what to Brenner?" the Australian doctor asked both of them as he entered the ER to start his shift.

"Exam 1. A bunch of young whippersnappers with poison ivy. You'd think these kids would be smart enough to stay out of the bushes in this day and age. Gates is in there now."

Brenner looked back at Carter, who by now was long gone. "What about him?"

"Damsel in distress," Frank said in reference to Julia Wise. "Carter can't help but be drawn to them. That's why he opened up that center of his."

Brenner put his lab coat on and took one last sip of his coffee before being interrupted by a familiar voice coming from Exam 1. "Dr. Brenner, you had better find a way to get your butt in here pretty quick. There are 20 kids in here with poison ivy and Dr. Gates is going to need some assistance. And the good lord knows I don't do kids with poison ivy anymore," Haleh, the veteran nurse said.

Frank put a chart back in the rack and offered a piece of advice to Simon Brenner. "You better get in there before she comes to get you," he said. "I've seen it happen too."

**Scene 6:**

Carter entered the staff lounge without Julia Wise even noticing him. She was sitting on the floor in front of her locker, head in her hands, crying ever so softly. Carter decided to speak up so that she would know that he was there.

"I came to this ER 16 years ago," he said. "My first day I had to go outside because I was so embarrassed. There have been plenty of days that I felt like crying over the years."

Wise looked up and saw Carter standing in front of her, and she was now truly embarrassed. "Dr. Carter, I—I'm sorry. I was just coming in here to collect my thoughts."

Carter sat down on the arm of the sofa and tried to figure out what was wrong with one of the newest ER interns. "Something is obviously bothering you Dr. Wise. Mind telling me what that is?"

Julia wiped the tears from her face and regained a little bit of her composure. Here she was crying in front of one of the attendings in the ER. Carter was one of the people who would be grading her at the end of the year and she was making a fool of herself.

"Dr. Morris had a gunshot wound to the chest and the leg come in and told me to do the intubation," she explained to Carter. "But I couldn't do it…I couldn't visualize the chords."

Instead of getting the scolding she thought she was going to receive, Carter was very understanding. "You aren't the first one to not be able to intubate someone," he told her. "And you won't be the last. Sometimes it is impossible to intubate without clearing an obstruction. Don't beat yourself up over it. Trust me, it isn't worth it. Who is in with the patient now?"

"Dr. Banfield, Morris, Dubenko, and Dr. Wade, the new surgical resident."

Carter opened the door to the staff lounge in gesture that showed that Wise needed to get back out there. "You should get back to your patient. Dr. Morris might need your assistance. Besides, you never leave your patient until they have been taken care of or transferred."

The little pep-talk by Carter seemed to but just what Julia needed. "Thank you Dr. Carter," she said. "I think I should be getting back to work now."

"Just remember that you don't have to be perfect around here all the time," Carter instructed. "Do the best you can. Don't let the good times get you too high or the bad times get you too low."

**Scene 7:**

Dr. Dubenko took the scalpel from Sam and began to make an incision in Marcus' neck, right along the airway to the larynx. "Dr. Wade, can you tell me what I'm doing?" he asked his young resident.

"It looks like a tracheotomy," Wade responded.

"Correct. Now walk me through the procedure," Dubenko said calmly.

Dr. Morris had seen enough. It did not appear that Dubenko was as interested in saving his patients' life as he was in teaching some young doctor surgical techniques. "We don't have time for this!" Archie demanded. "He is going to bleed out if he doesn't get to surgery right away!"

Dubenko looked up from what he was doing and did not look pleased with Dr. Morris. "Dr. Morris, this patient's heart rate is still stable but not stable enough to move him. We are going to finish the procedure and get him up to the OR," he shot back before turning his attention to Dr. Banfield. "Dr. Banfield, perhaps you need to remind your doctors that this is a teaching hospital," he quipped.

Archie Morris was the latest doctor to storm out of the trauma room just as Julia Wise was re-entering. She looked at the expressions on Banfield and Dubenko's faces and thought it best not to say anything.

Andrew Wade took this moment of silence to tell Dubenko how to perform the tracheotomy. "You need to make an incision along the cricothyroid membrane," he said to Dubenko.

Dubenko agreed with Wade and did what he had asked, but was not done teaching. "What will this do to the airway?" he asked.

"It should relieve the pressure in the airway, which will clear the obstruction. After that you insert the tube into the airway so that you can bag the patient."

Dubenko did just that and they appeared to be ready to go up to the OR. "Sam, I'd like to borrow you just to help get him up there and then you can come back down."

The three of them wheeled Marcus out of the trauma room and started to move him up to the OR. That left Julia Wise alone with Banfield, who did not look the least bit pleased about what had transpired in the trauma room.

"Dr. Wise, are you or are you not an intern here in this ER?" she asked angrily.

Julia knew what her response had to be but also knew that this was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

**Scene 8:**

Simon Brenner walked into Exam 1 and surveyed the situation. Sure enough, there sat 20-25 young boy scouts all with poison ivy. Tony Gates and Haleh were busy treating a few of the boys, but there were still plenty that had not been seen yet.

"I heard you could use a hand in here," Brenner said.

"Yeah," Gates said. "Seems like the boy scouts had one of their nature hikes today and ended up meeting nature pretty head on."

"Do all of these kids have poison ivy?" Brenner asked.

"These kids over here do," Gates replied and then motioned to the four kids that were sitting on the other side of the exam room. "I moved those kids over there so that they wouldn't get infected."

Dr. Brenner walked over to where the four kids were sitting and started talking to one of them. "Hello, my name is Dr. Brenner. What is yours?"

Only one of the boys would speak. "Joey."

"Joey, did you and your three friends here get into the same poison ivy that the rest of your troop did?"

Joey shook his head. "No, my mom always told me to avoid any bushes that you don't know what they are."

Brenner smiled, realizing how smart the young boy really was. "Dr. Gates, are any of their parents here?" he called over.

"No, but their troop leader is out in the lobby filling out paperwork. As the leader of the troop he has the right to make any medical decisions if the parents are not present."

That was a good enough answer for Simon and he focused back on Joey. His face was really red, along with the three other boys that were with him. "Does your face hurt Joey?"

Joey and the other boys all nodded in agreement.

"It looks like you each have a minor sunburn on your face. I'm going to give you a facial cream that should help with the swelling. And from now on, make sure you guys wear sunscreen before you go out exploring nature. Do we have a deal?"

The four boy scouts all looked at each other and then turned back to Simon, nodding in agreement.

**Scene 9:**

Dr. Anspaugh entered the lecture hall with about five minutes left in class. Up to this point class had been taught entirely by Dr. Gabriel Lawrence for the day and the students' notes reflected that fact. Lawrence would start off by saying something brilliantly and each of the students would understand that what he had to say was very important. By the time he actually got to the point of the story however, he forgot where he was or what the story was about most of the time. This made for a very interesting class, but not a very productive one.

When Dr. Anspaugh stood up in front of the class he had everyone's attention. "Today marks the last day that Dr. Lawrence will be your professor," he stated. "When you return to class next week you will have a new professor. We thank Dr. Lawrence for offering his services during this time when we have had a shortage and we wish him the very best of luck in the future."

Dr. Lawrence was thankful for getting the opportunity to teach these medical students, but he was just as thankful for being relieved of his duties. With his mental state as poor as it was he knew that he was not teaching these students as much as they needed to know.

"Thank you Donald," he said to the County General Chief of Staff after the class was over. He extended his arm to offer a handshake. "And thank you for not mentioning my condition to the students."

"Dr. Lawrence, it is my opinion that while you might not be able to practice medicine anymore, you still possess the knowledge required to teach these young people a thing or two. In behalf of the hospital, I thank you for your services."

The two elderly doctors walked out of the lecture hall and passed Rachel Greene, her friend Sara, and a couple other medical students. Rachel was busy sending a text to her mother, Jennifer Greene, who was a lawyer in Milwaukee.

"Rach, you want to go out for some drinks tonight?" Sara asked. "It's the first week of classes and we don't have a lot of homework yet. We should go out and have some fun before we get too busy."

Rachel thought about Sara's offer. There were going to be plenty of people going with them and she was sure to have a great time. There was just one problem with that whole scenario.

"I can't," she said. "Dr. Carter said that I could go volunteer at the Carter Center this weekend and I really want to go. He can really use all the help that he can get and it will be great experience for once we actually get to start seeing real patients."

Sara just shrugged it off, not real happy, but not real offended either. "Suit yourself."

**Scene 10:**

A couple of hours had passed but Tracy finally found Janet Coburn and the two doctors both entered Grace Summers' hospital room. She had spent the night in the ER because of a lack of beds anywhere else, but Dr. Gates and Dr. Morris had cleared out Exam 2 for her to spend the night in by herself without anyone to bother her.

Tracy introduced Grace to Janet Coburn. "Grace, this is Dr. Coburn. She is the Chief of Gynecology here at County General."

"Nice to meet you Dr. Coburn," Grace said with a smile. "You can answer my questions about the baby?"

"Yes I can," Coburn replied. "The first thing I want to do is an ultrasound so that you can see your baby at its current stage of development."

"I don't want to know the sex of the baby," Grace insisted. "I want to know if it is healthy and all of that, but I don't want to know if it is a boy or a girl. She put her hand in Angel's and said, "We want it to be a surprise."

"I can do that for you Grace," Dr. Coburn said assuring her. "I'm still going to show you the ultrasound, but I won't point out anything that the baby does or doesn't have. Is that ok?"

Grace nodded and Coburn started the ultrasound. She pointed out the baby's heart beat and informed her that the baby was about nine or ten weeks along. "Most importantly Grace," Coburn said, "your baby appears to be healthy."

Tears came to Grace's eyes and Grace and Angel shared in a long embrace. "We've wanted this for so long! I can't believe it's finally happening!" Grace said between her tears.

In the midst of hugging Grace, Angel noticed someone walking through the hospital that looked suspicious. It was a young man with several tattoos and piercings and he looked like one of those people looking for trouble at least in Angel's opinion.

"Hunny, I'll be right back," Angel said to Grace and exited the exam room. Coburn also left, leaving Grace and Tracy there alone to talk.

"Where is he going off to?" Tracy asked Grace in reference to Angel.

"It's probably nowhere," Grace explained. "Angel is very protective and has a habit of going out to check and see if everything is safe because he doesn't want anything to happen to me. He'll probably be doubly cautious now that he knows there's a baby on the way."

**Scene 11:**

"Well Dr. Wise," Banfield said impatiently. "I am waiting for your answer."

"Yes. Yes, I am an intern here Dr. Banfield," Julia responded cautiously.

"It's time you started acting your age then Dr. Wise," Banfield scolded. "This ER cannot run if its doctors are running out on traumas because they are too upset to continue. Are you afraid of making a mistake?"

Julia nodded. "It's just—what happens if a mistake that I make ends up costing someone their life? How can I live with myself after that?"

"You practice and get better," Banfield told her. "You work hard enough until you are sure that you won't make any more mistakes. Do you think you can handle this job Dr. Wise?"

"Yes ma'am, I do," Wise said hesitantly. "I had a talk with Dr. Carter and he said a lot of things that made sense. I just need to work on my self-confidence I think."

"Be sure that you do," Banfield said as Archie Morris walked back into the trauma room. "I _will not_ have another scene in my ER like I had in here today. Dr. Wise, you are dismissed. I need to have a few words with Dr. Morris."

Julia exited the trauma room and was glad that she wasn't going to be a part of the chewing out that Dr. Morris was about to receive. Morris, anticipating Banfield's wrath, spoke first.

"I am sorry about my reaction earlier during the trauma," Morris explained. "It just seems to me sometimes that the surgeons around here don't really care about the patients very much."

"Dr. Morris, you know that you have to act better than you did," Banfield said. "Dr. Dubenko is right. This _is_ a teaching hospital and he was doing his job. Dr. Dubenko also happens to be the Chief of Surgery at this hospital, which gives him the authority on all surgical cases. _Him_, not _you_ Dr. Morris! Do we understand each other?"

Archie respected Cate Banfield because she was the Chief of Emergency Medicine and his boss, but he did not care much for her constant cold demeanor towards not only her staff but the patients as well. And as an attending, he felt like he could speak his mind.

"I am not going to sit here and apologize for what I believe was the right course of action," he said confidently. "If you are looking for me to agree with you, you better start looking somewhere else."

Banfield was not going to be talked to that way. "Until you figure it out, you can leave!"

**Scene 12:**

Pete, a big 6'6, 275 pound man came rustling into the ER and did not at all pleased. He had a relatively thick beard and his arms were covered in tattoos. There were even a couple of visible tattoos on his neck, leading people to infer that tattoos covered a good deal of his body. He approached the admit desk where Frank was filing some paperwork.

"Where is that kid Marcus?" he grumbled at Frank.

"You family?" Frank asked, still not looking up from what he was doing.

"Yeah old man, I am," Pete roared at Frank.

Frank now looked up at Pete and wanted to get him out of his sight as soon as possible. "I think they are taking him up to surgery," Frank said pointing in the appropriate direction.

Pete stormed through the corridors of the ER until he caught up with Sam and Dubenko who were waiting for the elevator to take Marcus up to the OR.

"Where the hell you takin' my boy?" Pete demanded.

"He's going up to surgery to remove a bullet in his chest," Sam told the big angry man.

"He ain't goin' anywhere!" Pete declared and grabbed Sam by the arm and pulled her to him. Pete then took out a gun and pointed it at Sam's head. "Marcus be comin' with me or this lady is gonna end up havin' a real bad day!"

Sam was visibly scared but did not say anything to anyone. Dubenko was the next one to speak. "I understand that you don't want your son to have the surgery but without it he is going to die. You can still walk out of here if you let Nurse Taggart go and agree to leave now," Dubenko said calmly.

"You ain't in any position to negotiate," Pete sneered, tightening his grip on Sam's arm, causing her to let out a short cry of pain.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll let the nurse go and get yourself out of here," came a voice from behind them.

Pete turned so that he could see both Dubenko and this mysterious hero at the same time. "Who's the boy scout?" he asked sarcastically.

"The name is Angel," he replied. "And this is your last warning. You really don't want me to have to take matters into my own hands do you?"

Pete laughed and continued to hold Sam hostage. This was going to be fun!

**Scene 13:**

A bunch of thoughts raced through Sam's head at that moment. She thought back to a couple of years ago. That was the last time something like this happened to her. Steve, her ex-boyfriend, had come into the ER with a team hell-bent on kidnapping Sam and Alex. Luka Kovac tried to stop them but was hurt in the process. Sam ended up killing Steve, but no charges were filed, as it was determined that Sam did it in self defense. Now she was in a similar position and had no idea how she was going to get out of this one.

"What do you think you can do from there boy scout?" Pete asked Angel with a smirk. "I got the gun and this pretty little nurse will get it if you aren't careful!"

"What is it that you want?" Dubenko interjected.

Pete looked over at the surgeon and down to the hospital bed where his son Marcus was lying. Marcus was unconscious and stable at the moment, but there were no guarantees it would stay like that forever.

"I'm gonna walk outta here with my son," Pete demanded. "I don't want him talkin' to the likes of you all!"

"Go fish," Angel told him. "I think the doctor will tell you that isn't an option. But why don't you hand over the nurse and we can go settle this outside."

"I don't think so," Pete said cocking his gun.

Tony Gates was done with the boy scouts who got poison ivy and was at the admit desk when he noticed a problem in the corridor.

"Hey, what's going on down there?" he asked, forcing Pete to turn his head.

The distraction was all that Angel needed to make his move. He was determined to help save the day. It was now or never.

"Frank, call the police," Gates told him as he moved towards the group of people. He saw Sam was right in the middle of it and he surely didn't want anything to happen to her.

Angel calculated out how he was going to deal with Pete. He had to do it just the right way or Pete's hostage would be in jeopardy. He thought about Grace and the new baby that was on the way and ran at a distracted Pete. If he could get the gun away from Pete, the situation would be much less dangerous.

Pete turned his head just in time to see Angel coming at him. A struggle ensued, before a loud noise echoed throughout the ER. BANG!

**Scene 14:**

The sound of the gunshot was audible throughout the entire ER and it got everyone's attention. Grace, who was still in the exam room with Tracy Martin, had a real bad feeling about what just happened.

"Angel!" she cried out and tried to leave the room before Tracy stopped her.

"You have a baby to think about now," Tracy reminded her. "Stay here. I'll go check it out and see what happened."

Grace reluctantly agreed and Tracy ran out of the exam room and down the corridor until she came to three bodies lying on the ground and a bunch of blood. Dubenko, Gates, Banfield, Morris, and Wise were already there with Carter and Brenner coming in behind Tracy. Banfield was busy barking orders.

"Lucien, get that kid up to surgery and send me some surgeons down here! We're going to need them! Carter and Gates, get Sam into a trauma room and see what you can do for her! Brenner and Martin, make sure our hero doesn't die for his trouble," Banfield said in reference to Angel. "Dr. Morris, today is your lucky day because we need you. You and Dr. Wise are with me," she called out motioning them over to Pete, who was lying in a pool of blood.

Carter and Gates were joined in the trauma room by Chuny. "We need to find out where that bullet went," Carter said searching for the source of all the blood.

"She's still got a pulse, but it's really weak," Chuny informed them.

Carter found the source of the blood. "The good news is that it looks like a flesh wound to her right shoulder," he told them.

"And the bad news?" Gates asked, scared to death.

"She's arresting due to shock," Carter said moving towards the crash cart. "If we don't get her heart started…"

"Come on Sam," Gates pleaded with her. "You're going to be ok, you just have to hang on."

"Clear!" Carter yelled out, shocking Sam's chest.

"Heart rate normal," Chuny said, closely watching the monitors.

"Good. Gates, clean up her wound and get her up to the ICU just to be safe. I'm going to go see if Brenner needs a hand."


	3. Chapter 3

ER Season 16 Episode 3: "One Too Many Bullets"

**Starring:**

Noah Wyle (John Carter)

David Lyons (Simon Brenner)

John Stamos (Tony Gates)

Leland Orser (Lucien Dubenko)

Linda Cardellini (Samantha Taggart)

Scott Grimes (Archie Morris)

Alexis Bledel (Julia Wise)

Emily Rose (Tracy Martin)

Hallee Hirsh (Rachel Greene)

And Angela Bassett (Cate Banfield)

**Special Guest Stars:**

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Grace Summers)

David Boreanz (Angel Dank)

J.P. Manoux (Dr. Crenshaw)

**Guest Stars:**

Troy Evans (Frank)

Yvette Freeman (Haleh)

Laura Ceron (Chuny Marquez)

Julian Morris (Dr. Andrew Wade)

Dominic James (Alex Taggart)

Chloe Greenfield (Sara Gates)

**Scene 1:**

"How are you doing Simon?" Dr. Carter asked as he came into the trauma room. He had just gotten finished taking care of Samantha Taggart, so he thought he would come lend a hand where he was needed.

"He's got multiple gun shot wounds, but it looks like the shots missed any major organs or blood vessels," Brenner said while continuing to work on Angel.

Carter looked at the patient on the table and realized that it was Angel's lucky day. This thing could have gone much worse for him. "Do we have all the bullets?" he asked.

"We found two of them but there's a third wound," Dr. Martin said. "As soon as we find it, we'll get him up to surgery."

"Well Mr. Angel," Carter said to the unconscious patient. "Today is your lucky day."

**Scene 2:**

"He's hemorrhaging!" Julia Wise called out to the two attendings in the room. As the medical student she was just waiting for either Dr. Banfield or Dr. Morris to give her some instructions. She kept thinking that she had seen it all since she started at County General, but this place kept surprising her.

"Dr. Wise, go find me a surgeon!" Banfield barked. "We'll hold him together as long as we can."

"Dr. Dubenko just went up with Marcus," Wise reminded them. However, once she said it she knew she was going to regret it.

Dr. Banfield turned quickly to face her. "There is more than _one_ surgeon in this hospital Dr. Wise! I suggest you go find someone who isn't busy and get them down here!"

Julia Wise rushed out of the trauma room, but their problems were not near over. In fact, they were just beginning. Another monitor in the trauma room proceeded to go off.

"Heart rate is falling," Haleh said from her position near the monitor.

"We need to find some way to give him a stable rhythm until they can open him up," Morris said in reference to the surgeons. "Rib spreader," he called out.

Dr. Banfield was on the same page. "Get internal paddles ready," she ordered to Haleh.

Morris carefully opened his chest with the rib spreader and was about to use the internal paddles when he noticed the cause of Pete's erractic heart beat.

"Shit!" Morris said in anger. "We can't shock his heart with a bullet lodged in there. If we do it will surely kill him."

"Where in the hell is Dr. Wise with those surgeons?" Banfield asked angrily.

"Dr. Banfield, we can't wait much longer for Julia to get back. This bullet can't stay in there much longer without killing him," Archie Morris informed her.

Cate Banfield thought about her options for a moment and did not any of them. If they waited for a surgeon, Pete might die if one did not arrive in time. Leaving the bullet in his heart was certainly not an option because it would surely kill him. This meant that one of them would have to go in and take it out, a thought that did not comfort Banfield one bit.

"Dr. Morris, how well did you do in your surgery rotation as a med student?" Banfield asked. "It is going to be up to one of us to save this man."

**Scene 3:**

Archie Morris thought back to his surgery rotation in medical school. He remembered how much he hated it. Surgery required you to be very precise. If you were off by even a millimeter it could spell disaster. And surgeons did not have the best bedside manner.

"Dr. Banfield, as the senior doctor here, I think you would be much better at this procedure than I would. Just let me know what I need to do to help you."

This was not the answer that Banfield was looking for. She was hoping that Dr. Morris would be confident enough in his abilities to do the procedure. Time was up though and they had to do something.

"Have gauze ready," Banfield told Morris. "This is going to get pretty messy."

"Hold on, I'll do it," Dr. Carter said as he entered the third trauma room right before Banfield started cutting.

"Dr. Carter can you do this?" Banfield asked him, still holding the cutting knife.

"Probably better than anyone in this room," Carter responded. "I spent a couple of years here in surgery. I still remember a few things."

"Then by all means, it's yours," Banfield said getting out of Carter's way.

Carter picked up a clamp and handed it to Morris. "Archie, I'm going to need you to clamp the blood vessel as soon as I remove the heart. We can't have our patient bleeding out."

"Wait…you're going to remove the heart?" Morris asked a little scared. "Do you know what you're doing? Have you done this before?"

"First time for everything," Carter said without losing focus on what he was doing.

"Let's get the bypass machine up and running," Banfield said. "We can keep him alive on bypass for a short time while we get the bullet out of his heart."

"I still have one question Carter," Morris began. "Once we get the heart out, how long do we have before Pete becomes brain dead as a result of lack of blood to the brain?"

"3 minutes tops before risk of brain damage," Carter replied.

"And then how do we put the heart back in his chest?" Morris asked.

"By that time we better hope there is a surgeon in here to clean up this mess because I have no clue how to get the heart back in Pete's chest."

**Scene 4:**

"That's a relief," Morris said jokingly. "For a minute there I thought this was going to be difficult."

"One more cut and…out," Carter said mostly to himself. "Archie figure out a way to stop all of that bleeding.

Morris clamped off the blood vessel as best as he could, but it was not stopping the bleeding as well as he would have hoped. Blood was still going everywhere.

"Pete's not going to need the bypass machine if I can't stop this bleeding," Morris said frustrated with himself and the situation.

"2 and a half minutes until brain damage," Haleh informed them.

"Alright, I'm going to need something to extract this bullet with," Carter said to Banfield. Banfield handed Carter a pair of small pliers.

"Be careful that you don't damage the heart," Banfield instructed him.

Julia Wise walked back into the trauma room flanked by two surgeons: Dr. Crenshaw and Dr. Wade.

Crenshaw took one look at the situation and was appalled immediately. "Who is in charge of this operation!?" he demanded.

"Bullet has been extracted," Carter said, holding it up with the pliers.

"I've stopped the bleeding as well as I can for now," Morris announced to the group.

"1 and a half minutes until brain damage," said Haleh.

Banfield looked directly at Crenshaw and Wade. "I don't want to hear any questions or deal with any sarcastic remarks. You have 1 minute 15 seconds to get this heart back into its body. There's been too much blood for the bypass machine to work effectively."

Crenshaw took the heart from Carter. "Andrew, we need to reattach this heart pronto," he stated calmly. "Dr. Morris, I'm going to need you to suction."

Crenshaw and Wade began to reattach the heart to the rest of the body. "You people did a real hack job on this guy's insides," Crenshaw commented as he worked.

"I can't maneuver around all of this blood," Wade said. "Suction"

"45 seconds until brain damage."

**Scene 5:**

Archie Morris did everything that he was told by the two surgeons, but he wasn't sure if they were going to be able to save Pete when everything was all over. "Serves the guy right," he thought to himself. He was the reason that there were now three people in the ER fighting for their life right now. His thoughts went to Sam. Was she ok?

"10 seconds until brain damage," Haleh said, letting them know how much time they had left.

A monitor started going off like crazy in the next room. Brenner and Martin were losing their patient. In an attempt to be a hero, Angel's heroic effort might end up costing him his life.

"Heart's in," Crenshaw said, but they were not out of the woods yet. "Internal paddles. Clear!"

There was still no sinus rhythm, and this was the thing that the group was most afraid of. If they managed to get the bullet out of the heart successfully they still had to get the heart started again.

"Again!" Crenshaw shouted. "Clear!"

"We've got a faint rhythm," Wise said reading the monitor. Things wouldn't stay calm for long however.

"He's hemorrhaging again!" Morris announced.

Tracy Martin burst in from next door. "We need a surgeon in here!"

"How serious is it?" Crenshaw asked, still frantically working to save this patient.

"He's crashing!" Tracy exclaimed.

"As you can see," Crenshaw told Martin, "we are quite busy in here."

Carter spoke up. "We have more than enough doctors in here to help out. Your resident could handle the situation next door."

Crenshaw thought for a split second before deciding. "Andrew, go see what is going on next door. However, I'm going to need a couple of hands in here."

"You'll have Dr. Morris, Dr. Wise, and myself to help you out. Dr. Carter, go with Dr. Wade and help wherever needed," Banfield directed.

"Mr. Wade, let's go!" Carter said, leading the young surgeon to the other trauma.

**Scene 6:**

"Charge to 350," Brenner instructed Chuny Marquez. "Clear!"

"Still no pulse," Tracy Martin said with noticeable worry in her voice. She had come to like her patient Grace Summers and knew that if they could not save her boyfriend, Angel, she would be completely devastated.

"Dr. Brenner," Carter said walking into the room. "I've brought someone who might be able to help you out."

Brenner looked up and saw Andrew Wade. "Resuming chest compressions," he notified everyone in the room before turning his attention to the newest surgical resident. "Andrew, we were able to get two of the three bullets out, but the third bullet lodged inside of him somewhere."

"Did you get a chance to do an x-ray?" Carter asked.

Brenner motioned for Tracy to take over doing compressions on Angel and then showed Carter and Wade the x-ray. "Looks like the bullet is now in his large intestine."

Carter and Brenner both looked at Wade who was thinking about his options. "We could remove that section of his large intestine" he told the two attendings. "Then we would just need to tie it off to stop the bleeding. That should stabilize him."

"Can you do it?" Brenner asked him while keeping an eye on Martin and their patient.

Wade hesitated for a moment and Brenner could tell that he was very unsure of himself. "I've never done such a major surgery before," Wade said. "I would need Dr. Dubenko or Dr. Crenshaw to help me."

"Chuny, page Dr. Dubenko and tell him to get down here as soon as he can," Carter told the nurse. He then turned to Tracy. "Tracy, let's intubate him so that he is stable enough for Dr. Wade here to begin the surgery."

"But…I…" Andrew said with a lot of nervousness.

"There are three doctors in this room that are fully capable of helping you," Brenner reminded Wade. "You can start it and Dubenko can come in and finish it off once he gets down here."

"Please Andrew, Tracy begged him. "His girlfriend is my patient. She will be crushed if she loses him. You have to try!"

"Alright," Andrew said emphatically. "Here goes nothing!"

**Scene 7:**

"I thought you said you got the heart back in!" Morris said desperately.

"The heart is back in," Crenshaw replied. "For some reason it isn't pumping blood properly. Blood isn't going everywhere it needs to go."

"How do you fix it?" Banfield asked.

In many ways it would be easy to let this man die. He somehow got a gun into the hospital and started shooting. His actions put innocent lives in danger. But these doctors were expected to try. They were supposed to do everything they could to save lives. Other people could figure out the value of the person.

"What if you took the heart back out and reattached it?" Wise asked.

Crenshaw thought about that option for a minute. On the one hand, repeating the procedure was extremely risky. They had barely gotten the heart in and out before and there were no guarantees that trying to do the same thing again would not kill the patient. On the other hand, doing nothing would virtually guarantee Pete's death. Regardless of what decision they were going to make, Crenshaw knew that they had to do something or this man would die.

"There are no guarantees that repeating the procedure will save this man's life," Crenshaw explained to the doctors in the room.

"So what do we do?" Morris asked.

"We do exactly what we did before," Crenshaw said. "And we hope we do a better job than we did the first time."

With help from Archie Morris, Cate Banfield, and Julia Wise, Dr. Crenshaw was able to extract the heart from Pete's body one more time. This time was going to be easier however because they did not have to remove anything from the heart; all they had to do was make a cleaner connection this time.

"How do we know if it's working or not?" Wise asked after the heart was back in for a second time.

"Heart rate continues to fall," Haleh announced to the group.

"That's how we know," Banfield told her as she grabbed the internal paddles.

"Clear!" she barked as she tried shocking Pete's heart back into proper rhythm.

"I don't think we are going to be able to save you Pete," Dr. Morris said to the big man.

**Scene 8:**

"I'm going to need a scalpel and some light on the situation," Andrew Wade told the doctors that were all in the trauma room with him. With the exception of Tracy Martin, all of the other doctors in the room were much more experienced than he was. Dr. Wade and Dr. Martin had just started their residencies. However, Dr. Wade was the only surgeon in the room.

"Here's your scalpel," Brenner said as he gave the surgical tool to Wade.

"Tracy, keep an eye on the monitors," Carter instructed her. "If his BP starts to drop we need to know as soon as possible so we can act instead of react."

"Understood Dr. Carter," Tracy said, nodding in agreement.

"Making the initial incision," Wade said as he began making his cuts.

"How difficult is this procedure?" Tracy Martin asked while keeping her eye on the monitors.

"We'll know in a minute," Andrew Wade said as he continued to work carefully. "Making the second incision now."

"Blood pressure is starting to fall," Martin informed them.

"It's still within the acceptable parameters," Carter told Wade. He could tell the young surgeon was feeling the pressure. "Keep going Andrew. You're doing fine."

"We're about halfway there," Andrew narrated as he continued to cut. "Now we need to remove the damaged portion of the intestine."

"His BP is approaching dangerous levels," Martin said. "We can't let him die!"

"If we tie off the intestine we can stop the bleeding and his BP will return to normal," Brenner said. "Andrew, can you finish off this procedure?"

The young surgeon looked around the room nervously. "I'd feel better if Crenshaw or Dubenko was in here to help me close."

Carter looked across to the trauma room next door. He could tell that Crenshaw had his hands full with a patient of his own. Dr. Dubenko had to be around there somewhere though, and they still had a small window in which to wait for him.

"If his BP falls any farther he'll go into shock," Brenner said with authority.

"It looks like our window is up," Carter thought to himself.

**Scene 9:**

"Dr. Wade, it's time to act," Carter told him. "Looks like you'll have to do this without Dr. Dubenko."

Just then the Chief of Surgery, Lucien Dubenko rushed through the doors to the trauma room. Dubenko had just gotten out of surgery on Marcus, Pete's son. The chief surgeon was able to save Marcus from dying and now he needed to help Dr. Andrew Wade save Angel, whose life was hanging in the balance after trying to be a hero.

"How far have you gone, Dr. Wade?" Dubenko asked his resident.

"I've removed the damaged portion of the small intestine. Now we just need to tie off the intestine to stop his bleeding."

"Alright," Dubenko started. "Dr. Wade, if you can suction out the excess blood I will show you how to tie off this intestine."

"Do you need anything from the rest of us?" Carter asked Dubenko.

Dubenko looked up at Dr. Carter. "No Dr. Carter," Dubenko said, motioning that it was ok for him to leave. "You can go see if they need any help next door."

As Carter left the trauma room, Tracy Martin also thought that she would take the opportunity to go check on one of her patients. "I'm going to go get Grace up to speed on what is going on," she said, leaving the trauma room.

"I guess that leaves you here with us Dr. Brenner," Dubenko said to the last doctor left in the room. "You and Dr. Wade can watch as I save this man's life."

It was a pretty well known fact that Simon Brenner and Lucien Dubenko did not see eye to eye on much of anything these days. If one of them said the sky was blue, the other one would insist that the sky was actually green. It all went back to their respective relationships with Neela Rasgotra. Lucien was a little overprotective of his former star pupil and often got into disagreements with Simon Brenner.

"Make sure you pay attention Andrew," Dubenko said as he started to close. "It is actually a fairly routine procedure. All you need to do to fix this is act like you are doing sutures on the intestine."

"Wow," Andrew said in amazement. "That wasn't very hard at all."

"BP is returning to normal," Chuny announced to the room.

"Dr. Brenner, you can inform the girlfriend that this man is going to be ok," Dubenko said.

**Scene 10:**

"Need a hand in here?" Carter asked as he re-entered the trauma room. It looked like Crenshaw, Morris, and Banfield were all working hard but the look on their faces was ominous at best.

"Pete keeps hemorrhaging and we can't stop it," Dr. Morris told him. "Every time we stop the bleeding from one place he starts bleeding even more out of another area."

"Crenshaw how can I help you?" Dubenko asked after finishing up with Angel next door.

"I don't think there is any thing more we can do for this patient Lucien,' Crenshaw informed his boss. "I think I'm about to call it."

"I'll call it," Banfield said, taking charge once again. "Time of death: 21:27"

"Who is going to tell his son?" Julia Wise asked the rest of the doctors.

"Is the son stable enough for us to go visit him?" Banfield asked Dubenko.

"Yes he is," Dubenko replied. "He's in the ICU. He got out of surgery an hour ago."

"I'll go inform the son," Carter volunteered.

"Good," Banfield confirmed. "Take Dr. Wise with you. It will be good practice for her to learn how to give bad news to the family."

Carter and Wise both headed up to the ICU leaving everyone else to stand over the dead body.

"Dr.'s Crenshaw and Wade, there is nothing more that we can do down here. Dr. Crenshaw, you are free to go home for the night. Dr. Wade, you can accompany me on the last set of rounds for the evening," Dubenko said to his surgeons.

"Haleh, can you clean this mess up?" Banfield asked.

"Yes Dr. Banfield."

"I'll stay here and help her," Archie Morris volunteered.

Banfield exited the room, leaving Haleh and Archie to clean up Pete's corpse.

"Do you ever think that some of the people we see in here deserve to die?" Archie asked.

"Hunny, I just patch them up the best I can. I've been doin' this too long to really think about anything else."

**Scene 11:**

"What do you mean Angel's life is in danger?" a horrified Grace asked Tracy Martin. "How did all of this happen?"

"Well," Tracy started slowly. "Apparently he went out to try and stop someone from shooting up the place. He got shot three times. We managed to retrieve two of the bullets but the third one has given us a bit of trouble."

"Trouble?" Grace exclaimed. "What do you mean by trouble?"

"The third bullet got lodged in Angel's colon," Tracy explained. "But don't worry Grace. The Chief of Surgery is in there right now working to remove that bullet and stop the bleeding."

Grace sat back in her hospital bed as tears started to roll down her face. She seemed dejected and that tore Tracy up inside. "Why does he always need to try and be a hero?" Grace asked to no one in particular. "Why can't he just be a regular guy who goes to work from 9 to 5 and then comes home? He doesn't always have to be a superhero you know."

Tracy wasn't sure what to say but knew that she had to say something to try to comfort Grace. "It's going to be ok Grace. The best surgeon in this hospital is in there with him right now."

"When can I see him?" Grace asked shakily. One could easily tell that she was trying her best not to break down into tears right then and there.

"You can see him now," came the Australian voice of Dr. Brenner as he entered the room.

"Is he ok?" Grace asked with noticeable hope in her voice.

"Yes he is. Dr. Dubenko was able to remove the third bullet by cutting out that section of Angel's colon. We've moved him up to the ICU," Brenner informed her.

A huge smile came over Grace's face and she started to cry tears of joy. "Thank you so much for saving him Dr. Brenner! And thank you Dr. Martin! Can you take me up to see him?"

"I most certainly can," Tracy said with a big sigh of relief.

The two blonde women proceeded to leave the hospital room where Dr. Brenner had given them the good news. Grace had gone from an extreme low to an extreme high.

"Oh, Dr. Brenner," she began. "Tell that surgeon thanks for me!"

**Scene 12:**

"Where is she!?" Alex Taggart asked frantically as he ran into the ER.

"Where is who?" Frank asked the teenager but then realized who he had to be referring to.

"My mom! Where is my mom?"

"Dr. Gates took her up to the ICU. I don't know if she is conscious or not yet kid but you can go up there and check."

Alex left the admit desk and raced down the corridors of the ER, only stopping to look at a sign that would point him in the right direction of the ICU. Tony had called him earlier to inform him that his mom had been involved in a shooting but he didn't know how bad it was or anything like that, which left his mind racing. He couldn't help but fear the worst.

"Alex, it is going to be ok," Sara said as she finally caught up to him at the elevators. "Your mom is going to be fine. Tony wouldn't let anything bad happen to her."

The doors to the elevator opened and the two of them got in. "You don't know that!" Alex said hysterically. "What if something bad has happened to her? What if she's really hurt?"

"I think the fact that they moved her up to the ICU is a good sign," Sara assured him. "They wouldn't have taken her out of the ER if she was still in really bad shape."

The doors to the elevator swung open and the two teenagers got out and proceeded to enter the ICU where they were greeted by someone behind the main desk.

"I'm sorry kids but visiting hours are over," she told them.

"It's alright, they're with me," Tony Gates said as he came out of Sam's room to meet the two of them.

"How is my mom?" Alex asked him.

"She's doing ok. She is still unconscious but she is breathing on her own. Now we just have to wait for her to wake up."

"Can I go in and see her?" Alex asked him eagerly.

Tony motioned for Alex to go be with his mom and then turned to Sara. "Hey kiddo, I love you so much!" he told her as he gave her a big hug.

**Scene 13:**

Marcus was just waking up when Dr. Carter and Dr. Wise came in to see him. Marcus might have been young but he could tell when someone had good news and when someone had bad news and these two doctors definitely had bad news.

"Hi Marcus, I'm Dr. Carter and this is Dr. Wise…"

"Let me guess," Marcus interrupted. "Something happened with my dad, right?"

Carter was not sure how to best go about breaking the news to Marcus. How do you tell a teenaged kid that one of their parents has died?

"Marcus, your dad was involved in a struggle while you were being taken up to surgery," Carter explained. "During the struggle a gun that your dad brought into the hospital went off and three people were injured…"

"My dad was one of them wasn't he?"

"Your dad sustained multiple gun shot wounds that we worked on for a long time. We tried to the best of our abilities but his injuries proved too severe and we lost him."

Marcus appeared stunned but seemed to be taking the news better than Dr. Wise had anticipated. He was quiet and somber but he did not cry. He was most likely rather upset but he did not give that appearance.

"Thank you for letting me know," Marcus said quietly.

Carter and Wise both exited the ICU just as Tracy and her patient Grace Summers entered it. While they were waiting for the elevator Julia had a question for Carter.

"Does it ever get easier? I mean, does it ever get easier dealing with all the death and having to tell the relatives?"

"Do you want the truth Julia?" Carter asked her. The young med student nodded.

"The truth is that it doesn't. You can be a doctor for a long time and it never gets easier dealing with death. It can't get easier. The minute that you're ok with people dying…the minute that it becomes easy to tell a patient's loved ones something tragic…that is when you need to go out and join a different profession."

"So you have to hate your job?"

"No. You have to hate losing people. No matter who they are, it is your duty as a doctor to do your best to save their life."

**Scene 14:**

Sara looked up at Tony with worry still in her eyes. "Is Sam going to be ok?"

Tony looked down at the young girl who he loved like she was his own daughter. For all intents and purposes she was. She might not be his biological daughter, but that did not stop Tony from loving her like she was.

"We'll have to see," Tony said while putting a hand on her head. "She just needs to wake up. But her bio-signs are stable and as long as they stay that way everything will be ok."

"Can you wake her up?"

Tony shook his head slowly. "I'm afraid not. It is up to her to wake up on her own. Sam is as strong as any person I know though. She'll come out of this."

Sara went to the window and looked in. Alex was sitting by Sam's bed, holding her hand. He wasn't saying anything, just sitting there quietly with his mother. Sara could tell that Alex was very worried.

"It's going to be important that you are strong for Alex," Tony told her as he came up behind her. "I know you two have grown very close. He's going to need you while Sam is in the hospital."

Sara nodded in agreement. "I know Tony. I'll do whatever I can for him." Then Sara had a thought. "Maybe he should come home and stay with us until Sam gets better."

"That's a great idea."

Alex came out of Sam's room and looked visibly shaken. Tony reached into his pocket and pulled out some money which he gave to Sara. "Why don't you guys go across the street and get something to eat."

"I need to stay with my mom," Alex said earnestly.

"And you also need to eat something. Go with Sara and get a burger or something. I'll stay with your mom until you get back."

"Will you call me if anything happens Tony?" Alex asked him before making a decision on whether to leave or not.

"I promise Alex. I will not let anything happen to your mother. You have my word."

The two young teenagers left and Tony went back in to Sam's room to sit with her. He ran her fingers through her hair. "Come back to me Sam," he pleaded. "I need you."


	4. Chapter 4

ER Season 16 Episode 4: "Driving is Dangerous"

**Starring:**

Noah Wyle (John Carter)

David Lyons (Simon Brenner)

John Stamos (Tony Gates)

Leland Orser (Lucien Dubenko)

Linda Cardellini (Samantha Taggart)

Scott Grimes (Archie Morris)

Alexis Bledel (Julia Wise)

Emily Rose (Tracy Martin)

Hallee Hirsh (Rachel Greene)

And Angela Bassett (Cate Banfield)

**Special Guest Stars:**

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Grace Summers)

Jennie Garth (Nurse Lindsey Morgan)

**Guest Stars:**

Abraham Benrubi (Jerry Markovic)

Yvette Freeman (Haleh)

Laura Ceron (Chuny Marquez)

Deezer D (Malik McGrath)

Dominic James (Alex Taggart)

Chloe Greenfield (Sara Riley)

**Scene 1:**

"Is Dr. Martin working today?" Grace Summers asked Jerry at the admit desk.

"Umm," Jerry paused and checked the work schedule for the day. "Yes, she is. I'm sure she'll be out in just a second. You can wait over there in chairs and I'll tell her you're here. And what is your name miss?"

"Grace. Grace Summers," she told Jerry just as Tracy walked towards the admit desk to put a chart away.

Tracy noticed Grace just as Grace noticed her. "Grace!" she exclaimed. "How are you? Is everything ok? How is Angel?"

"That is what I'm here to talk to you about. I just wanted to thank you for everything you have done for us. I'm going to see Dr. Coburn as my OBGYN. And, Angel got to go home the other day. He's doing much better. Thank you so much Dr. Martin!"

"You're welcome Grace! If you ever need anything don't hesitate to call me."

**Scene 2:**

"Who is the new girl?" Malik asked Jerry as he reported for work that morning.

"Lindsey Morgan," Jerry said with a big grin. "Pretty good looking, eh?"

"Yeah better believe she is!" Malik replied giving Jerry a high five. "Is she a new nurse?"

"Well, that's the bad news…" Jerry said before getting interrupted.

"Everybody listen up," Dr. Banfield said as she approached the group of nurses that not only included Malik, but Haleh and Chuny as well. "I'd like to introduce Nurse Lindsey Morgan."

"It's nice to meet you," the chorus of nurses said in unison.

"Lindsey will be taking over as the new head nurse until Sam gets back on her feet," Banfield informed them. "I expect you all to treat her with the same respect that you give Nurse Taggart. And don't try to pull any fast ones because Nurse Morgan will be reporting directly to me."

"Where did you work before getting hired here?" Haleh asked her.

"I was the charge nurse in the ER at UIHC," Lindsey Morgan told them.

"UIHC?" Chuny asked her, not familiar with the acronym.

"University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics," Morgan explained. "It's located in Iowa City and is one of the biggest and most prestigious hospitals in the state."

"Do you have any family?" Jerry chimed in from behind his desk. Jerry was not a nurse but was definitely interested in this new employee's story.

Lindsey turned so she could see Jerry and gave him a smirk. "If you are asking if I'm married or not the answer is no," she told them. "I'm still looking for the right guy."

"Honey, I've been here for a long time and I let me give you a little tip. Watch out for the doctors in this place. The head nurses have a history of dating the doctors that work down here."

"First there was Carol," Chuny jumped in. "She dated Doug Ross. Then Luka Kovac for like a minute. Now she and Doug have kids and live in Seattle. Then Abby Lockhart dated Carter. She and Luka are married in Boston now. And Sam dated Luka and Gates. As you can tell, it's like our pattern to date men around here."

**Scene 3:**

Sam woke up to see three people in her room. Alex and Sara were curled up together sleeping on a chair, and if they didn't look so incredibly uncomfortable they might have looked cute together. Tony was passed out in a different chair on the other side of her bed. She didn't know how long she had been out for but she was really touched that all of these people cared enough about her to wait in her room with her until she woke up.

She looked over to Tony who was asleep in the chair. His beard had about two days worth of growth to it, from what she could tell, which gave her an idea of how long she had been unconscious. She hated to wake him, but had a feeling that he would want to know the minute that she woke up.

"Tony, wake up," she whispered to him so as to not wake up Alex and Sara. "Tony…," she repeated. "Hey Tony…"

After a moment or two Gates began to wrestle about until he finally woke up. As soon as his eyes were open he jumped out of his chair and went to Sam's bed, as he had done many times before. The first thing he had done over the past 5 days that Sam had been unconscious was to go check on her each time he entered her room and every time he woke up from a nap. So by now it was like second nature for him to check on her progress.

"Hi Gates," Sam said with a small smile as he came to her bedside. "How long have I been unconscious?"

Gates put a hand on the top of her head and kissed her forehead. "It's been about five and a half days," he told her.

"Really?" Sam replied in astonishment. "I can't believe it's been that long. The last thing I remember was getting grabbed by that big guy and then everything is fuzzy after that. Has everyone been here the entire time? Wait, Alex has school, so does Sara. They better have been…"

Gates just smiled at her. She had been in a life threatening situation and the first thing that she could think of was Alex going to school when she finally woke up. Say what you want to about Samantha Taggart, she was one hell of a mother. Nothing was more important to her than Alex.

"Don't worry about Alex," he told her. "He has been here every night and then I wake him up in the morning in time for him to go shower and get ready for school."

"How do you know that he's been going?"

"Sara's been with him pretty much the entire time that you were out. The two of them have become pretty attached to each other."

**Scene 4:**

Archie Morris looked at the chart at the end of the bed and came up with a frown. He couldn't recognize the handwriting on the chart as it definitely did not belong to any of the nurses that he was used to working with.

"What seems to be the problem Mr.….Fredericks?"

"Why does everyone ask me that?" Frank Fredericks asked. Fredericks was a big, crusty, grumpy old man that appeared to be angry at the world. "That nurse was just in here asking me all sorts of questions. I am tired of all these goddamn questions. It's about time that somebody did something for me."

Dr. Morris was still confused as to who was looking at this man before he got in there. "Do you know what nurse examined you?" he asked.

"What's with all the questions?" Fredericks complained. "It was that blonde one. She's pretty good looking but man can she be a bitch!"

"Thank you for the compliment Mr. Fredericks," nurse Lindsey Morgan said as she re-entered the exam room. She turned to Archie and introduced herself. "Lindsey Morgan," she said extending her arm to offer a handshake. "I'm the new charge nurse around here. You must be Dr. Morris."

Morris smiled at the new nurse and then turned and smiled at Mr. Fredericks. "How did you know that?" he asked her. "Is it because of my stunning good looks?"

"No…," she started. "I got two big clues that helped me figure it out. The first is that you are the only redheaded doctor working down here. And the second is the ID tag on your lab coat. But really, you shouldn't smile in your next picture. It might make you look better."

Archie's smile disappeared as he realized that Lindsey Morgan was not complimenting him, but actually doing the exact opposite. So far Lindsey seemed a little cold, at least in Archie's opinion. He turned his attention back to Fredericks.

"So according to your chart you are complaining of being constantly thirsty," he said to Fredericks, summarizing his chart. "What was the last thing you had to drink?"

"I drank a six pack of soda in 15 minutes and I'm still incredibly thirsty," Fredericks told him.

"Maybe you should try drinking some water and maybe doing a little bit of exercise," Morgan told Fredericks. "If you weren't so out of shape maybe you wouldn't be so thirsty."

**Scene 5:**

"Alex, you need to get going to school," Sam told her son. It was 7:45 AM and school started at 8:30. But in Chicago you needed to make sure you gave yourself enough buffer time in case traffic was bad that day. And since it was a Friday morning, odds were good that traffic would not be real great.

"Alright Mom," Alex agreed. "I've got a shop class project that I'm supposed to work on after school, but I won't go if you need me to come right home or back here."

"No sweetie, go work on those cars or whatever it is you like doing," Sam told him. "I've got to meet with Dr. Banfield about next week's nurse schedule and then I should be able to come home. I'll see you later."

"Come on Alex," Sara spoke up. "We have to get there early today, remember?"

The two of the hustled out of the ICU and Gates decided to give Sara a little reminder. "Behave yourself today Sara," he called out. Sara turned back and gave Tony a thumbs up and then the two of them disappeared.

Sam waited until the two of them were gone before speaking again. "When do you think I can get out of here?" she asked Gates desperately.

"Not until Dr. Dubenko takes a look to make sure you don't need any surgery or anything like that," Gates said.

Sam looked a little annoyed. "Come on, I'm fine," she insisted. "I just want to be able to get out of here and go home and then back to work."

"I'm not taking any chances here," Gates said. "I ordered a CT to make sure everything was ok. Dubenko is going to come back with the results. If he doesn't see anything wrong with you then I'll get you home."

"I still need to talk to Banfield," Sam reminded him. "I think I'm scheduled to work tomorrow."

"I've taken care of everything with Banfield," Gates explained. "You're going to be off for the next three weeks. It will give you time to recover and get back on your feet."

Sam suddenly looked stressed out. "I can't afford to take three weeks off of work. I've got bills to pay and…"

"Banfield agreed that you would get three weeks paid leave once you woke up."

"And what about the ER? Everybody is going to have to work a lot of overtime to cover my shifts. I can't ask them to do that."

**Scene 6:**

Archie looked at Lindsey Morgan and was not at all pleased. "Nurse Morgan, can I talk to you outside for a moment?"

The two of them walked out of the exam room and Archie waited until the door closed before he began to talk to Lindsey.

"Listen, I don't know who you are or where you came from but there is a certain way we do things around here," Morris scolded her. "We're supposed to treat these patients and make them well. It is not our job to judge them."

"First of all Dr. Morris," Morgan retaliated. "I came from one of the most distinguished hospitals in all of Iowa. I have done this for a long time now. And second of all, I don't need to be lectured by you as to how to deal with patients."

"Dr. Morris, Nurse Morgan, is there a problem here?" Cate Banfield asked as she approached the two of them. "Or is there some other reason that the two of you are standing out here when you have a patient in there?"

"No Dr. Banfield," the two of them said in unison.

"Good. Dr. Morris you are going to have to learn how to get along with Nurse Morgan because she is going to be here for a while," Banfield informed him and went on her way.

After a moment Morris went back to what he was thinking about with Mr. Fredericks. "Get a blood glucose test going," Morris instructed her. "If Mr. Fredericks is not able to quench his thirst it could be because he is diabetic."

"Right away Dr. Morris," Morgan responded. "And I'll inform you when I have the results."

Morris and Morgan parted ways and Archie went to go check the board to see where else he was needed. "Hey Jerry, do you know anything about that new nurse, Lindsey Morgan?"

"I know she's single and not bad to look at," Jerry said smiling.

Archie erased one of his earlier patients from the board. "From what I can tell, it's no wonder why she isn't married. How long is she going to be around here anyway?"

"I don't think anyone knows just how long it is going to be," Jerry told him as he filed some paperwork. "Until Sam gets back, whenever that is."

"Great! I'm really looking forward to more weeks of this!"

**Scene 7:**

Gates tried to calm Sam down as he could tell she was starting to worry about all things County. "Dr. Banfield has hired someone to replace you until you get back to work. So you have nothing to worry about."

"Replace me!? I don't like the sound of that Tony."

There was a knock on the door and Lucien Dubenko was standing in the doorway. The surgeon was holding Sam's CT results and the look on his face appeared to be good news.

"I don't want to interrupt you two," Dubenko said as he came into the room.

"It's ok Dr. Dubenko," Sam said. "Please come in."

"What did the CT reveal?" Tony asked him.

"Well as far as I'm concerned you're ready to be discharged," Dubenko told Sam. "Your CT came back negative."

"Why was she unconscious for so long?" Gates asked him.

"After she got shot, her body went into a state of shock," Dubenko explained to them. "You don't need me to tell you that some people take longer than others to recover."

"Thank you Dr. Dubenko," Sam told him. "I appreciate you taking the time to look at my case.

"You're welcome Sam," Dubenko said as his pager went off. "I'm needed in the ER. There's a mass trauma coming in." Dubenko proceeded to exit the room but was not quite done talking. "We'll see you when you get back to work. Oh, and Dr. Gates, they could probably use a hand down there from you as well."

Gates looked at Dubenko walking away and then at Sam. He had discussed it with Dr. Banfield and the two of them agreed that Gates would take the next 3 or 4 days off to take care of Sam. She probably didn't need anyone to look after her but he was awfully protective of his favorite nurse.

"Go Gates!" Sam urged him. "They probably need you down there."

Gates grabbed his stethoscope on the chair and went over to Sam and touched her cheek. "I'll go check it out and be back as soon as I can. I know you are probably eager to get out of the hospital."

"Now let's go save some lives," Gates thought to himself as he rushed to the ER.

**Scene 8:**

"Everybody be ready for anything," Banfield announced as her team of doctors waited in the ambulance bay for the incoming trauma. As the ambulances started to pull up she started barking orders once more. "Carter, Brenner take the most serious cases. Dubenko is ready to assist on anything that is surgical, but it has to be high priority. We don't want to take him away from a more important case. Gates, you handle triage. Send the critical patients the way of the attendings and the non-critical ones to Martin and Wise to patch up. Morris and I will float to help wherever we are needed."

Carter was waiting for the first ambulance to pull up when Rachel Greene asked her a question. "What do you want me to do Dr. Carter?" she asked. She had seen a couple big traumas before but because she was just starting med school, she really did little more than just watch and stay out of everyone's way.

"Stay with me," he instructed her. "I might need to you to assist me."

The first ambulance pulled up and the EMT shot out of the back of it. "12 car pile up," he informed Carter and Greene. "21 people involved, some major some minor."

"Are we getting all of them?" Greene asked the EMT.

"Yep, Mercy lost electricity so everyone is being routed here."

"What's his story?" Carter asked as they moved him into the hospital.

"27 year old male that got his foot crushed and severed in the accident. The foot's on ice."

Carter knew instantly that this was going to be a surgical case. "Jerry what's open?" he yelled over the chaos as they rushed past admit.

"All of the trauma rooms are currently unoccupied," Jerry announced.

"We're taking trauma one," Carter told him. "Get Dubenko down here and tell him that this man is our top priority."

The sense of urgency was not lost on the massive desk clerk. "Right away Carter."

Carter and Greene wheeled the patient into trauma one and were joined by Malik. "Let's move him on my mark," he commanded. "1, 2, 3, go"

"Pressure is dropping," Rachel Greene announced nervously. "What do we do?"

Carter was moving quickly, realizing that he did not have a lot of time before this man bled out. "Rachel, I need some gauze and a sheet or something I can cover this with."

**Scene 9:**

Gates busily ran from ambulance to ambulance so that he could assess patients as they came out and direct them appropriately. He was supposed to be off today but did not mind the work. Yes, it was very hectic, but it also provided a major adrenaline rush.

"Tracy, I'm going to give you three," he told her as they came off the ambulance. "Head lac that looks pretty deep, possible concussion," he said as he pushed the gurney towards her. "Next one is a sprained wrist," he said pointing to the young girl. "Follow Dr. Martin," he told her. "Third one looks like a broken leg," he finished as he pushed the second gurney to Tracy. "Can you handle all of that?"

"I'm on it," Tracy said confidently and then disappeared into the chaos.

Everybody was inside and Gates went to survey the damage. Most everybody left appeared to have sustained minor injuries that would require no more than a few sutures, but there was one middle aged man who Gates did not pick up on when they were all coming out of the ambulances. The man had somehow gotten the drive shaft lodged into his chest. The man did not appear to be in a lot of pain but it was probably just a matter of time before something bad happened to him.

"Chuny, I need a gurney over here," he called out to the Latina nurse and then got the man onto the gurney. "Brenner, I have a case for you," he informed the Australian doctor. "Middle aged man with the gear changer stuck in his chest."

"I'll take it from here Gates. Morris, you're with me." The two doctors pushed the man towards trauma two and Brenner looked back at Jerry. "Jerry, we're going to need Dubenko to get this thing out of this man's chest before he crashes."

Jerry looked perplexed and then looked as if he didn't want to tell a little kid that Santa Claus isn't real. "Carter has Dubenko in putting some guy's foot back on," he told Brenner.

"The foot can wait as long as it stays cold. If we don't get this thing out of his chest this man could go into cardiac arrest any minute," he said as they entered trauma two.

"Jerry where I am needed?" Lindsey Morgan asked as she came onto the scene.

"Dr. Brenner and Dr. Morris could probably use a hand in trauma two."

Gates re-assessed the situation once he got the other critical patient to the right place and was still left with about fifteen minor injuries. He looked over and motioned for Julia Wise to come and join him.

"Julia, these people need to be cleaned up. Let's move them into an exam room and take care of them so we assist anywhere else they might need us."

**Scene 10:**

Lindsey Morgan rushed into trauma two and immediately tried to ascertain what she needed to be doing. "BP is falling rapidly," she informed the two doctors.

"We need Dubenko now!" Brenner shouted out into the mass chaos that was going on outside of the trauma room.

"What do we do until he gets here?" Lindsey asked Simon.

"We need to get that drive shaft out of his chest while he is still alive," Archie chimed in. "Lindsey, start a morphine drip for this man. We might have to pull it out by ourselves."

"He's hooked up," Morgan replied as she started the man on the morphine. "Once we get it out, how do you propose we stabilize him and put his chest back together?"

"Give me the bullet," Dubenko said as he entered the trauma room.

"27 year old male," Morris reported. "Looks like he got the gear changer stuck in his chest during the crash."

"Have you started him on an anesthetic?" Dubenko asked as he put his gloves on. "If you haven't, this is going to be extremely painful for him."

"He's being pumped full of morphine as we speak," Lindsey told the surgeon.

"Good," Dubenko said in agreement of what had transpired so far. "Let's get ready to open him up. I'm going to need a rib spreader."

"Here you are Dr. Dubenko," Lindsey said as she handed him the rib spreader.

Lucien Dubenko cranked the rib spreader until the man's chest was opened wide enough for him to move around in there. "We might have a problem," he announced to the room. "I'm going to need some light."

Nurse Morgan adjusted the lightning so that Dr. Dubenko could better see what he needed to see and the two attendings in the room hovered close by to assist if they were needed.

"What's the problem?" Brenner asked him.

"The drive shaft has punctured an artery. If I try to pull it out this man is going to bleed to death."

"And if you leave it in there he will surely die as well," Brenner said, finishing his thought.

**Scene 11:**

Carter took the gauze and the dressings from Rachel Greene and looked across the way to trauma two where he saw Dubenko working with Brenner and Morris. He had a foot that needed to be reattached yesterday if they were going to save it and the only man that could put the foot back on was in the other room.

"Rachel, get trauma two on the intercom," Carter said hurriedly. "I need to talk to Dubenko!"

Greene rushed over to the phone and eventually was able to connect the two trauma rooms via the intercom. "You're on with trauma two Dr. Carter."

"Lucien I need you to get over here," Carter shouted into the intercom. "I've got a foot here that is going to be useless within the next thirty minutes."

"I'm a little busy over here Dr. Carter," Dubenko said as he tried to figure out what to do about the patient that was on the table in front of him.

"We're not just sitting around shooting the breeze over here either," Carter said with noticeable tension in his voice. "What should I do about this man's foot?"

"You're going to have to keep it cold until I can get to you."

Greene thought that she needed to interject something that she had learned from the EMT. "His foot has been detached from his body for nearly an hour now Dr. Carter."

"We can't wait any longer Lucien," Carter said. "We have to get this foot back on right now."

Dubenko came to the same conclusion that Carter did and knew that this was going to make both of their jobs that much harder. "I'll have to walk you through the procedure."

"I'm ready, what is the first step?" Carter asked eagerly.

"First you need to irrigate the wound. Rinse the wounded area with water and saline. It is going to do you no good to put his foot back on if it is just going to get infected."

"I can do that," Rachel piped in, figuring that there was something much more challenging that Carter needed to focus on.

Dubenko continued to give instructions as Carter and Greene were trying to help each other out as much as possible. "Once the wound is cleaned and irrigated you can reattach the foot by finding the connective tissues on both the foot and the leg. Once you line them up you will be able to sew the foot back on."

**Scene 12:**

"I'm sure Carter appreciates the walkthrough, but we still have a patient on the table in here that is going to die if you make a decision," Brenner said trying to get the focus back on what was happening in their trauma room.

"I am fully aware of the situation in here Dr. Brenner," Dubenko said coldly and to the point.

"So what are you going to do about _this _patient?" Brenner demanded.

"Dr. Morris, I am going to have you pull out the drive shaft," Dubenko instructed. "Once it is out this man is going to start bleeding profusely. I am going to need you, Dr. Brenner, to suction out as much of the excess blood as possible so that I can try to repair the artery. Nurse Morgan, please keep us advised of our patient's vitals."

The three of them nodded, fully understanding the task that they had in front of them. The best case scenario was that everything would work out perfectly and this man would live. However, it was much more likely that this patient would die despite their best efforts.

Archie Morris got himself in position to pull out the drive shaft. "One, two, three," he counted as he yanked it out. Just as Lucien Dubenko had predicted, blood started going everywhere.

"Hang another unit of O-negative," Brenner called out to Lindsey Morgan as he worked to suction as fast as he could in the hopes of giving Dubenko the chance to save this man's life.

"He's crashing!"

"Get the internal paddles ready," Archie Morris instructed.

Dubenko just shook his head, not agreeing with the last order given. "At this point, shocking his heart is going to do us no good. There is too much damage to the artery to be able to repair and give this man a meaningful quality of life."

"I'll call it," Morris said but was interrupted by Brenner.

"No, I'll do it," he said angrily. "Time of death 15:31."

The room went silent for a moment and everyone could tell how upset Simon Brenner really was. Brenner ripped off his gloves and protective glasses and stormed out of the trauma room. Lindsey Morgan decided that she needed to follow him and also left the trauma room. Dubenko, remembering that Carter was trying to put a foot back on next door, also left the scene, leaving Archie Morris there by himself.

**Scene 13:**

"How far have you gotten Carter?" Dubenko asked as he prepared to work on this man's foot.

Carter looked up slightly from what he was doing. Rachel was holding the foot steady so that Carter could stitch it back together. "I think I have done about 25% of his foot," Carter explained. "But I can't guarantee any great work. I'm not really a surgeon."

"Understood Dr. Carter," Dubenko said. "I can take it from here."

"What are the chances that he will be able to use his foot again?" Greene asked with a lot of curiosity.

"I'd say not more than 50-50 at best," Dubenko replied. "Even if we had been able to move on this right away, the blood vessels in the foot that you need in order to walk may have been too damaged to do anything about."

"When will we find out if we were successful?" Greene asked, her mind racing with questions.

"We'll do a scan in a few hours to see if we can detect any blood flow," Carter told her as he saw Brenner angrily go past trauma one.

Simon Brenner rushed down the corridor and towards the admit desk. "Tell Banfield that I'm going home," he said to Jerry without stopping to look at him. Tracy and Julia were both filling out charts by the desk as he walked by.

"Are you ok Dr. Brenner?" Julia Wise asked worriedly. She got no response from the attending, who proceeded to go quickly into the doctor's lounge. He went to his locker and started getting his stuff so that he could leave.

"Aren't you on until 4:00?" Lindsey Morgan asked him. He was unaware that anyone had followed him into the lounge.

"If Banfield wants to fire me for leaving 20 minutes early, then she should," Brenner said slamming his locker shut.

Morgan pondered what her next action was going to be for a moment before saying anything. "I'm off at 4:00 and I never got any lunch today. Would you like to go with me?"

"You don't really even know me that well," Brenner reminded her.

"I know, but maybe I can get to know you a little better over some lunch."

**Scene 14:**

Sam knew that she had been unconscious for a while, but she was pretty sure that this was not the way home. Tony had come back up to pick her up after he had finished in the ER and told her that he was going to take her home. Wherever they were going, it definitely was not to _her_ home.

"Where are we going?" Sam asked confused as to their destination.

"I told you that I'm going to take you home," Tony said nonchalantly.

"But…Tony…" she started and then figured out what he was up to. "Tony, I don't think this is a good idea."

"Don't think what is a good idea?"

"Me…going home with you…staying with you…" Sam said as her voice trailed off.

"Nonsense," Tony stopped her. "Sara and I talked about it and we agreed that you and Alex should stay with us for a while."

"But…no…we really can't…"

"Yes you can. Sara has already talked to Alex about it and he moved some of his stuff over last night."

"Tony, I don't know if I'm comfortable with all of this. I mean, I'm not sure if I would feel right sleeping with you."

"You don't have to. We've got three rooms. Alex can have his own room, so can Sara. We have lived together before, remember?" Tony said with a smile.

"Yeah, and that didn't work out very well, or do you not remember Alex's accident? _And_ you and I were…" Sam started but didn't finish.

Tony chuckled, keeping his eyes on the road. "Sam, you're going to sleep in my room. Alone. And as for Alex…I've become a pretty good parent to Sara. Nothing will happen to him, I promise."

"And where are you going to sleep?"

"I've got a nice sofa. I'm actually looking forward to it to be honest."

"Tony, I don't want you to have to do that. Especially after everything you've done for me. But we will stay with you…at least temporarily."


	5. Chapter 5

ER Season 16 Episode 5: Second Chances

**Starring:**

Noah Wyle (John Carter)

David Lyons (Simon Brenner)

John Stamos (Tony Gates)

Leland Orser (Lucien Dubenko)

Linda Cardellini (Samantha Taggart)

Scott Grimes (Archie Morris)

Alexis Bledel (Julia Wise)

Emily Rose (Tracy Martin)

Hallee Hirsh (Rachel Greene)

And Angela Bassett (Cate Banfield)

**Special Guest Stars:**

John Alyward (Dr. Donald Anspaugh)

Sam Jones III (Chaz Pratt)

Jennie Garth (Nurse Lindsey Morgan)

**Guest Stars:**

Abraham Benrubi (Jerry Markovic)

Ellen Crawford (Lydia Wright Grabarsky)

Lily Mariye (Lily Jarvik)

Gedde Watanabe (Yosh Takata)

Emily Wagner (Doris Pickman)

Lyn Alicia Henderson (Pamela Olbes)

**Scene 1:**

"Cate, Lucien, please sit down," Dr. Donald Anspaugh directed as they entered his office. The distinguished Chief of Staff had a disgruntled look on his face and the two heads of their respective departments had a bad feeling about what he wanted to discuss with them.

"I've asked you here today to talk to you both about what happened last week in the ER," Anspaugh started. "From the reports I've seen we weren't able to save the driver in a car crash, and we also weren't able to get a man's foot back on in time for him to be able to use it again. I am hoping that one of you will be able to offer me an explanation."

Banfield and Dubenko looked at each other, and Banfield spoke up first. "I take full responsibility Donald. These things happened in the ER and we should have done a better job handling them."

Banfield finished and the two of them looked back at Anspaugh, who still did not look pleased.

**Scene 2:**

Archie Morris strolled into the ER that morning with his coffee in hand, ready to take on the day. "Jerry, my man! What's going on in here today?"

The big burly desk clerk pointed to the virtually empty board behind him and chuckled. "Not too much Dr. Morris."

"Dr. Morris, I'm glad you're here," nurse Lydia Wright Grabarsky said as she approached his position. "There's a kid complaining of an ear infection in curtain one and Dr. Wise is having some difficulty making a decision as to what course of treatment to prescribe."

"I'll take a look at it," Morris said as he took the chart from Lydia. As he started to walk away, he realized that something just wasn't right. "Lydia, I thought you were working nights these days."

"I was," she told him. "For the last 5 years or so my schedule has always been the same. But that new nurse, Nurse Morgan, she completely changed the schedule for all of the nurses."

"So who is working nights now?" Archie asked.

"Morgan has Haleh, Chuny, and Malik working nights for at least the next two weeks. Hopefully Sam gets back soon so we can all get our old hours back."

"Have you tried explaining to her that you would like to work your usual hours?"

"She's not really the easiest person in the world to talk to," Lydia commented.

"I know, I've had the pleasure of…" Archie started before being cutoff.

"Dr. Morris, will you please leave my nurses alone so that they can do their jobs," Lindsey Morgan said to him as she went to mark something down on a patient's chart. "We are not paying these nurses to sit around and gossip with doctors. So if you would please allow Lydia to do her job without interruption, I would appreciate it."

Archie grabbed the chart angrily and started to walk towards curtain one. He then turned around, prepared to give Lindsey Morgan a piece of his mind, but then he thought better of it.

"Is everything ok Dr. Morris?" Julia Wise asked him as he approached her patient.

"Yes, yes, everything is fine," Morris said a little distracted. "I just am waiting for the day when Sam is able to get back to work."

**Scene 3:**

"Tony, really you don't have to do that," Sam pleaded with him. "Ever since I got shot you have been waiting on me hand and foot. I am fine. Really, I am. I can do some of these things by myself."

Tony finished making the two of them lunch and brought it to the table. They were eating chicken salad sandwiches on raisin bread and Tony had prepared a side of fruit for them. He had never been a very good cook before, but he and Sara had been practicing. Now that Sam was staying with them for a while, it gave Tony the perfect excuse to show off his culinary skills.

"And tomorrow when I go back to work you will be able to do everything yourself," Tony commented. "But I don't want you to over exert yourself."

Sam thought that everything Tony was doing for her was really sweet, but also completely unnecessary. "Tony, come on, I can take care of myself."

"I know you can. You've been taking care of yourself since you were 16. You've raised a child virtually by yourself, and now you are even taking care of your mother after your sister left her here. Let someone help you out for once please."

The two of them became silent as they ate their lunch. Sam still held a lot of resentment towards Tony. As much as she knew that Alex's accident was not completely his fault, she could not help but blame him for it. That was the event that led to the two of them breaking up in the first place. Then there was Daria Wade. Daria was a med student in the ER last year who was all over Tony all the time. Shortly after Sam and Tony broke up, Tony ended up sleeping with Daria. Tony admitted that fact to Sam and told her that there was nothing between him and Daria but the damage had been done. Sam was still really hurt every time she thought about it.

"You make things really hard, do you know that?" Sam asked as she took a drink of her milk.

Tony had just gotten up to refill his glass when he looked over to her. Tony had an idea what she was talking about but wasn't 100 percent sure. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I want to be mad at you with every bone in my body, but then you do stuff like this that makes it so hard to stay mad at you."

Tony sat back down and continued eating his chicken salad. "What have I done? I really haven't done anything," he said innocently, giving Sam a slight smile.

"Ok, fine," Sam said giving up. "I guess all I can do today is thank you for lunch."

"Don't eat too much," Gates warned. "We have plans tonight."

**Scene 4:**

"It looks like Maria has an ear infection," Carter told Luisa Rodriguez, Maria's mother. "Do you have any insurance?"

Luisa Rodriguez looked ashamed as she shook her head no. "I work three job to feed my family," she told Carter in fractured English. "But I have no insurance."

Carter just smiled at the young mother as he completed Maria's chart. "That is ok Mrs. Rodriguez. This center is dedicated towards helping underprivileged kids. I am going to write you a prescription for some antibiotics to help clear up Maria's ear infection. Just take it down to pharmacy services on the first floor and the pharmacist there will give you the antibiotics free of charge."

Luisa Rodriguez looked at Carter like an angel had sent him from heaven. "Thank you Dr. Carter," she said gratefully. "Thank you so much! Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

"Just make sure that Maria takes the antibiotics until the pills are gone, even if she starts feeling better," Carter instructed her. "If she does not finish off the pills there is a chance that the ear infection could come back and then it will be harder to deal with."

Luisa Rodriguez nodded her head in understanding and agreement. She took young Maria by the hand and the two of them walked out of the exam room at the Carter Center.

"This is what medicine is all about," Carter said to himself as he walked back to his office to see what patient he needed to see next. "Being able to help those who cannot help themselves is what we should all be trying to do." His thoughts wandered to Kem and their son Joshua, who was the reason that he opened up this center in the first place. He wondered what Kem was doing and when he might see her again.

"Dr. Carter, I was hoping that you could help me out," came a familiar voice as he entered his office.

Carter was a little surprised to see the person who was waiting for him in his office. "Chaz, what are you doing here?" he asked Gregg Pratt's younger brother. "Is everything ok?"

Chaz smiled at Carter but his smile quickly faded. Something was on Pratt's mind, Carter just knew it, but he wasn't sure what it was or if he could help him.

"If you are my doctor then everything that I tell you stays between you and me right Dr. Carter?" Chaz asked cautiously.

"Yes Chaz, of course," Carter responded. Now he knew something was up, he just didn't know how serious it might or might not be.

**Scene 5:**

Anspaugh transferred his gaze to Cate Banfield, then to Lucien Dubenko, then to the papers that were in front of him on his desk and back to Banfield and Dubenko before speaking again.

"Dr. Banfield, I commend you on taking responsibility for what has happened recently in the ER," he started. "It is the sign of a strong leader to be willing to be praised when things are going well and take the fall when things are going poorly. However, with that being said, I am still alarmed at the number of cases that have seemingly fallen through the cracks down there."

Anspaugh finished speaking and looked directly at Banfield, who did not say anything right away. Before she managed to create a response, the Chief of Staff turned his attention to Lucien Dubenko.

"Ever since the departure of Dr. Rasgotra, the number of successful surgeries performed by your department has declined drastically. "Do you have any explanation for this Dr. Dubenko?"

Dubenko was embarrassed because he knew what Anspaugh was saying was true, but he was also a little upset with the whole situation because he had already had a similar conversation with Donald Anspaugh just weeks prior to this meeting.

"I know where our numbers are at Donald," Dubenko responded confidently. "I know that our numbers are down. Neela Rasgotra was one of our most talented surgeons and her leaving has created a void in the department. And after her departure, I was not allowed to hire another surgeon to replace her. So, as you can see Donald, we are a little short staffed."

"But what about Dr. Wade?" Anspaugh asked Dubenko about his new resident. "Dr. Rasgotra was just a resident when she left County and now Dr. Wade is a resident. The way it looks to me is that you already have your replacement in Dr. Wade."

"With all due respect to Dr. Wade, he is not that great of a surgeon yet. I believe that he can be a great surgeon, but that takes time. Neela Rasgotra was finishing her residency and Andrew Wade is just beginning his. You understand that we lose a lot of experience with that trade."

Anspaugh thought for a moment before continuing his conversation with the Chief of Surgery. "As I have explained to you before, my hands are tied by our current budget. I am not sure I can get you the money to hire another surgeon."

He then turned to Cate Banfield with an idea. "Am I correct in understanding that Rachel Greene is a student here at County General?"

**Scene 6:**

"Dr. Wise, if you just prescribe Beth here some of these antibiotics that ear infection should clear right up," Archie Morris instructed the fourth year med student as he completed the patient's chart. "And make sure you tell the parents that Beth needs to take all the pills until they are gone," he continued and then turned his attention to the young girl.

"Do you hear that sweetheart?" he asked Beth. "I want you to take one pill per day until they are gone. Can you do that for me?"

Beth shook her head no, a move that surprised Dr. Morris. Julia quickly came up with what she thought was the reason for the rejection.

"Beth's pretty young," she reminded Morris. "She probably doesn't take pills yet. Maybe we should give her the liquid stuff instead."

Archie nodded in agreement and was impressed with the progress that Julia had been making. When he was her age he probably would not have even thought about it. "Good work Dr. Wise. Get her some liquid antibiotics, talk to the parents and let her go home."

Archie left the exam room and was immediately ambushed by Tracy Martin as soon as he was clear of the room. That was what happened in the ER when only one attending was present. The lone attending would have to oversee the entire ER and on a busy day it could get kind of hectic.

"Dr. Morris, I was hoping to get your input on treatment for my patient," Tracy Martin said as she ran up to him. "21 year old working in a restaurant drops a glass and it shatters and there seems to be a nice chunk of the glass in her leg."

"Is it big enough to pull out with tweezers?" Morris asked as he continued to move. Walking and talking was the key to managing a busy ER by yourself.

"It is a pretty big chunk and it is jammed in there pretty good," Martin explained. "I don't think tweezers will do it."

"You're going to have to cut the wound open a little bit and then use the forcipes to get the glass out," Morris told her.

"You really want me to do it by myself?" Martin asked unsurely.

"You can handle it Dr. Martin," Morris told her picking up a chart. "I've got more critical patients to see and the board is full." He looked up and saw Yosh Takata finishing up with a patient. "Yosh, go with Dr. Martin and assist her as needed."

"Yes sir," the Asian nurse replied and followed Dr. Martin to the exam room.

**Scene 7:**

"Chaz, I can't help you if you won't talk to me," Carter prodded Pratt as he had suddenly gone very quiet. There was obviously something that was really troubling Pratt that he did not want anyone to know about.

"Ok, Dr. Carter," Pratt started while taking a deep breath. "You know I'm gay right?"

Carter was actually a little shocked by this revelation. Not that he didn't think that someone like Chaz Pratt could be gay, because he knew that anyone could be, but it was more of the fact that Carter had not really ever thought about it.

"Actually Chaz, I had no idea. I guess I haven't been back long enough to know about every little thing that goes on at County. But what does that have to do with anything?"

Chaz looked embarrassed and ashamed and Carter continued to have a hard time following his train of thought. Since he thought that Carter knew about him being gay, this couldn't be a problem with trying to keep it a secret. No, there was something else bothering Chaz Pratt.

Chaz looked back at Carter and hesitated to begin. Thoughts kept racing through his head and they were starting to make him crazy. "What if he judges me?" Pratt thought to himself. "What if he tells the people at County?"

Pratt took one final deep breath and decided that he didn't really have that much to lose. "Dr. Carter, I was wondering if we could do an HIV test on me…" he said quickly, trailing off at the end.

Carter looked at Pratt and spoke in roughly the amount of time that Pratt thought meant that Carter accepted him. "Of course Chaz. Have you been practicing safe sex?"

"Yes…yes of course Dr. Carter. I know about the risks. It's just…I may have come into contact with someone who is infected."

Carter now understood what Pratt was so nervous about. "And you came here instead of going to County because you didn't want a bunch of people talking, right Chaz?"

"Yes Dr. Carter," Chaz said ashamed of himself. "So if we do the test here no one from County will ever know about it?"

"You have my word Dr. Pratt," Carter said with a smile. "You have the ability to be a great doctor one day, much like your brother was."

Pratt, who was nervous the whole time, suddenly felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Thank you Dr. Carter. Thank you very much."

**Scene 8:**

"Emily, calm down. This won't hurt very much if you just sit still," Tracy Martin tried to reassure the 21 year old. Unfortunately for Dr. Martin, all of her efforts seemed to provide little comfort to Emily.

"I…hate…shots…," Emily said frantically. She was nearly hyperventilating. "I've never been very good with doctors or hospitals or anything like that. Blood and stuff like that really freaks me out."

"Well, I have good news for you Emily," Tracy told the young woman. "You no longer have that piece of glass in your leg."

"Really?" Emily asked astonished.

"Yep, you're almost home," Tracy told her. "Yosh, if you can just update her tetanus so that she doesn't have any future complications."

"Right away Dr. Martin," Yosh replied. "We'll have Emily out of here in no time."

"Good," Martin said as she exited the exam room. She had finished with Emily just in the knick of time as Olbes and Pickman were both in the ER with what looked like a multi victim trauma.

"78 year old male fell down a flight of stairs," Pickman stated as she was the first in. "He is complaining of shoulder pain…probably dislocated his shoulder and needs to be popped back in."

Archie grabbed the gurney and directed them to trauma one. "We've got this one Doris, thanks. Dr. Wise you're with me. Lydia I might need you too." Morris then looked back to Olbes and the next patient coming in. "Jerry, direct Olbes to take her patient to trauma two and find out where in the hell Brenner is."

Jerry could sense that this was not the best time to make a joke and just followed Morris' orders as best as he could. "You're supposed to take him to trauma two," he told Olbes. "Dr. Brenner will meet you there."

Back in trauma one, Dr. Morris and Dr. Wise were preparing to treat the elderly man who had fallen down the stairs. "Get a history for our patient," Morris instructed Wise as they moved him from the gurney to the bed in the trauma room.

"Sir what is your name?" Julia asked.

"I'm Gerald. And I didn't fall down the stairs. I was pushed," Gerald said angrily. "I'm in a lot of pain here Doc! Can I get something over here?"

**Scene 9:**

"Tell me what I need to know," Brenner said to Olbes as he entered the trauma room.

"67 year old man complained of extreme thirst at the nursing home that both he and the patient next door live at," Olbes said while motioning to trauma one, where Morris and Wise were taking care of Gerald. "Apparently he collapsed at the top of the stairs and it knocked the other elderly man down the stairs."

"What's his name?" Brenner asked her.

"Barry Fredericks," Olbes responded. "He was conscious when we got to him but has since lost consciousness. All I could get out of him before was that he was here at County last week and was treated poorly by some blonde nurse."

"Thank you Olbes," Brenner said as the EMT left the trauma room. "Lily, go find Lindsey now!" he instructed. "She is the only one who knows what is going on with this man."

Lily ran out of the trauma room and saw Yosh taking the temperature of an elderly lady. "Yosh, have you seen Lindsey?" she asked him hurriedly.

"I think she is filling out nursing reports in the lounge," Yosh told her.

Lily ran into the lounge and explained the situation to Lindsey Morgan, who quickly jumped to her feet and the two nurses rejoined Dr. Brenner in trauma two.

"What happened Simon?" Lindsey asked quickly. "Lily said you needed me."

Lily and Yosh both watched in amazement as Lindsey Morgan called Dr. Brenner by his first name. The rest of the nurses, with the possible exception of Haleh and Sam did not have such a familiarity with the doctors in the ER.

"I've got Barry Fredericks here, and he previously complained about being treated by you the last time he was in here. Would you like to give me a clue as to what you did and what is wrong with this man?"

Lindsey looked at the big old man lying on the table and knew immediately who he was. "This was Dr. Morris' patient," she explained. "I thought that he was just overweight and needed a diet. Dr. Morris told me to run a blood-glucose on him."

"What were the results?"

Lindsey thought about it for a moment and then remembered. "His levels were a little high, but not at dangerous levels." Lindsey was now afraid that her behavior last week might cost Barry Fredericks his life.

**Scene 10:**

Dr. Banfield looked surprised at Anspaugh's question. She could not figure out for the life of her what Rachel Greene had to do with this meeting or the problems that they had been having in the ER. The fact that Rachel Greene even got into the med school program here at County bothered her a little. Yes, she did have the grades and the test scores to warrant admission into the program, but something about her presence just did not sit well with Banfield. Rachel Greene only brought the legend of Mark Greene back to life in her ER and she would have preferred to distance her ER from the past and move it towards the future.

"Rachel Greene did get accepted into County's medical school," Banfield responded to Anspaugh's question.

"That is what I thought," Anspaugh said, continuing his thought. Then he turned his attention to Dubenko.

"Lucien, perhaps you should have a conversation with young Rachel Greene."

Now it was Dubenko's turn to be confused. "I am not sure I follow Donald," he said.

"The Chief of Surgery before you got here was Dr. Elizabeth Corday," Anspaugh explained. "She is one of the finest surgeons that I have ever known."

Banfield, who was still just as confused as Dubenko was, spoke up. "I still do not know what this has to do with Rachel Greene."

"Dr. Corday is Rachel Greene's step-mother," Anspaugh reminded them. "Lucien, if you are looking for another surgeon, perhaps Dr. Corday would care to come back at a reasonable rate."

Dubenko and Banfield left Anspaugh's office and Dubenko decided that talking to Rachel was at least worth a shot. When he got down to the ER he asked Jerry if she was roaming around there today.

"I think she is in the suture room practicing her sutures," Jerry told him.

Dubenko entered the suture room and sat down next to Greene. "You need to tie off your sutures a little tighter," he instructed.

Greene was a little startled by the Chief Surgeon's presence. "Thank you Dr. Dubenko. I am out of class for the day and thought I would do some practicing."

"That is very responsible of you," Dubenko told her. "I was wondering if I could talk to you about something. I would like to know if Dr. Corday has any desire in moving back to Chicago."

**Scene 11:**

"Well now Mr. Fredericks is going into congestive heart failure as a result of a diabetic coma," Brenner told Morgan, not at all pleased.

"His blood-glucose was within acceptable levels when I tested him last week," Morgan defended herself. "I know it was. I would not have let him leave otherwise."

"We'll have to work to correct the error," Brenner said and looked over to Lily. "Go find me another doctor right now! Banfield, Martin…I'll even take Wise. I need another set of hands in here."

Lily ran out of the trauma room once more in search of a doctor. She had just seen Tracy Martin not too long ago but had no idea where she was now. She knew that Julia Wise was in with Morris, so that was not an option. Lily then saw Rachel exiting the suture room with Dr. Dubenko.

"Rachel, have you seen Dr. Banfield?" she asked.

Rachel noticed how hurried Lily's voice was. "It looks like she is coming down the stairs now," she said pointing. "Is everything ok?"

"Dr. Brenner has a patient crashing on the table," Lily explained and saw Dubenko motion as if to offer to assistance. "Thank you Dr. Dubenko, but I can get Banfield," Lily told him and then darted off again.

Back in trauma one, Archie Morris and Julia Wise had their hands full with their own patient. Gerald was yelling and screaming and complaining of a lot of pain.

"Come on Doc!" Gerald screamed at the top of his lungs. "I'm dyin' over here!"

"Lydia, give Gerald a shot of morphine to help him with his pain," Morris instructed. "Where does it hurt Gerald?"

"My chest feels like it is going to explode!" Gerald howled.

"Is he having a heart attack?" Wise asked Morris. "That would explain him thinking that his chest is going to explode."

"I don't think so," Morris said, rejecting Wise's idea. "His heart rate is a little high but it is stable. He spoke once again to Gerald. "Gerald, I'm going to order a chest CT for you so that we can see what is going on in there. Lydia, call radiology and tell them that we are on the way up."

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Julia asked Archie as they took Gerald upstairs.

**Scene 12:**

"You better have a good explanation for what is going on in here Dr. Brenner," Banfield announced as she entered the room. "Why is this man crashing?"

Lindsey Morgan decided that she would speak before Brenner got a chance to, as it was in large part her fault for this man's condition. "He's crashing after falling into a diabetic coma," Morgan explained to Banfield.

"Wasn't this man in here last week Nurse Morgan?" Banfield asked.

While Banfield and Morgan were having it out, Brenner knew that he better do whatever he could to save the patient. "Lily, charge the paddles to 250," he instructed. "We have to get this man's heart beating again."

Brenner shocked Barry Fredericks as Morgan and Banfield continued their discussion. "Who was this man's doctor the first time?" Banfield demanded.

"Dr. Morris," Morgan responded quietly.

"Did Dr. Morris have you test this man for diabetes?" Banfield continued to hammer Morgan with questions.

"Yes, he did. And I did one…" Morgan was cut off by Lily.

"We've got him back. He has a pulse," she announced.

"Good save Dr. Brenner," Banfield said. "Now let's try to treat this man so he does not come back next week on death's doorstep."

Cate Banfield left the trauma room and went to go check the board to see if she was needed elsewhere. When she got there she ran into Tracy Martin erasing a patient from the board. Rachel Greene was also there.

"Miss Greene, did Dr. Dubenko find you?" she asked. "I know he had a few questions for you."

"Yeah he did" Rachel responded. "He wants me to see if Elizabeth…I mean Dr. Corday would be interested in moving back to Chicago. I told him I would ask her the next time I talk to her."

"That sounds like a plan," Banfield said confirming what Rachel told her. She then turned to Tracy Martin. "Do you have any patients that I need to see?"

"I don't think so Dr. Banfield," Martin replied. "I think we have everything covered. Besides, Dr. Brenner and Dr. Morris are both here if anything comes up."

**Scene 13:**

Simon Brenner followed Lindsey Morgan into the ambulance bay. After her confrontation with Dr. Banfield in the trauma room, Morgan was visibly upset and Brenner wanted to make sure she was ok. It was about 7:30 in the evening on this early November night and it was a bit chilly outside.

"I think that this is a good way to catch a cold," Brenner said as he came up to her from behind. He was trying to get a laugh or a smile at of Morgan. "Come on, let's go back inside. We can get a couple cups of coffee."

"I am not real interested in coffee," Morgan told him. "Or company for that matter. I think you should just go back inside."

Brenner was not going to leave that easily. "I seem to remember a time not too long ago when I didn't want any company and you invited yourself to dinner."

"That was different," Morgan said staring off into space as a couple of snowflakes began to fall. It was still a little early for snow in Chicago, but Midwest weather never seemed to surprise her anymore.

"How so?" Brenner asked in response to Morgan's statement.

"You just didn't get ripped apart by the Chief of Emergency Medicine, that's how," Morgan explained.

"You did everything by the book," Brenner assured her. "Anyone would have done the same thing that you did."

"I am not supposed to make mistakes," she told him. "I pride myself on being perfect."

Brenner was now done with this conversation, as it was self-destructive and not getting her anywhere. "I'm off in a half hour," he told her. "Would you like to join me for dinner?"

Morgan allowed herself to smile after having such a hard day. "It depends Dr. Brenner," she started. "Can you answer a question?"

"Sure, why not."

"Is your girlfriend going to be jealous?" she asked with a smile.

Brenner was not prepared for that kind of question. "No, I don't have a girlfriend. What made you even ask that?"

"This is our second "date" Simon," Morgan informed him and started to walk inside.

**Scene 14:**

"Tony, why are we doing this?" Sam asked as she sat down across from him at the table in the park. "It is a little cold and dark to have a picnic. It is even starting to snow."

Tony got the food out of the picnic basket and also got a couple of candles out and lit them. The candles allowed them to sit at a table away from any of the lamp posts scattered throughout the park.

"You love to go picnicking," Gates reminded her. "And since I am going back to work tomorrow, I thought I had better take you out tonight. Besides, it is not _that_ cold out here. This is perfect picnic weather."

Sam smiled as Tony continued to amaze her with his thoughtfulness. Never once had he tried to get back together with her. He had not asked her out. He had not tried to kiss her or anything like that. He respected her desire for space, while at the same time being there for her when she needed him.

"I thought you were going to help Sara study for her test tonight," Sam said as she put some butter on a roll.

"I was," Gates said in between bites. "I talked to Alex after he got home from school. I think you were in the shower. He agreed to help her study so that I could take his mom out for a nice evening."

"Alex is a pretty good kid," Sam said realizing how great of a son she had. "He's had some rough spots, but he has always come through when he's needed to. Much like another guy I know…"

"Well Alex has a pretty great mom to take after," Tony proclaimed. A silence then took over the table. It did not last for more than ten or twelve seconds, but both people could feel the silence and started to get a little uncomfortable.

"Alex and Sara sure have been spending a lot of time together lately," Sam said breaking the silence. "Do you worry about what they're doing?"

Gates thought about it for a second before replying. "No, I don't," he stated. "I trust Sara to make the right decisions. And Alex is a great kid. I'm sure they aren't doing anything that we wouldn't approve of."

"If you say so," Sam said with a smirk. "I just know how the minds of girls Sara's age work. That is how I ended up with Alex."

It was now completely dark outside and the snow was falling. In the distance you could see the moon reflect off the water of Lake Michigan. Silence had fallen on the two of them once again.


	6. Chapter 6

ER Season 16 Episode 6: "The Past Can Hurt"

**Starring:**

Goran Visnjic (Luka Kovac)

David Lyons (Simon Brenner)

John Stamos (Tony Gates)

Leland Orser (Lucien Dubenko)

Linda Cardellini (Samantha Taggart)

Scott Grimes (Archie Morris)

Alexis Bledel (Julia Wise)

Emily Rose (Tracy Martin)

Hallee Hirsh (Rachel Greene)

And Angela Bassett (Cate Banfield)

**Special Guest Stars:**

Jennie Garth (Nurse Lindsey Morgan)

Amy Madigan (Mom Taggart)

**Guest Stars:**

Troy Evans (Frank)

Ellen Crawford (Lydia Wright Grabarsky)

Gedde Watanabe (Yosh Takata)

Emily Wagner (Doris Pickman)

Montae Russell (Zadro)

**Scene 1:**

"How do you think you did on the exam?" Rachel Greene's friend Sara asked her as they entered the residence hall. Both of them were paying for medical school in part by being an RA in the dormitories. It made for long nights occasionally, but they were used to staying up into the early morning hours studying and writing papers.

"I think I did ok," Rachel said while putting her backpack on the chair. "At least I hope I did ok."

"The best part is that this was our last exam before Thanksgiving," Sara reminded both of them. "School is out and we can relax for a while."

Rachel thought about what she wanted to do over the Thanksgiving break. They had an extended break this year—two weeks—and she wanted to make the most of those two weeks.

"Should I go to St. Louis to see my mom?" Rachel asked Sara. "Or should I go to North Carolina and spend time with my little sister Ella?"

**Scene 2:**

He couldn't believe he was back here after all this place had meant to him for so long. This place had allowed him to finally come to peace with his wife's and kids' deaths. Nearly ten years ago an elderly, dying bishop helped him regain his faith in God as well as in mankind. Then his father's death coupled with a couple of very trying patients forced him to leave Chicago and start a new life in Boston with his new wife and infant son. And now a medical conference had made him return to Chicago.

"Well look at who it is!" proclaimed Frank as he walked in. "Was Boston getting too cold for your Croatian blood?"

Luka smiled at the desk clerk. "It is nice to see you too Frank," he said with his Croatian accent. "There is an emergency medicine conference being held here in town this week. That is why I'm here."

"Oh yeah, I think I know the one you're talking about. Dr. Banfield is going to be at that conference as well," Frank commented.

"Who?" Luka asked, unfamiliar with the person that Frank mentioned.

"Banfield is the new Chief around here," Frank informed him. "First permanent one that we've had since you went all "Croatian" on us. She is a really piece of work."

"I heard Carter is back now," Luka said as he looked at the patient board behind the desk. It was just like he never left this place. Everything was so familiar to him, it was uncanny.

"You just missed him," came Archie Morris' familiar voice from behind him. "He flew out to Paris to spend a couple of weeks and Thanksgiving with Kem." Archie extended a hand and gave Luka a firm handshake. "It's great seeing you Luka. How long are you in town for?"

"The conference is over at the end of the week, but I might stay an extra week. Abby's mom is in Boston and I think Abby and her mother need some time together," Luka told him.

Tracy Martin came up to Archie with a chart in her hand. "Dr. Morris, I've got a couple of patients to present. Could I steal you for a couple minutes?"

"Lead the way," Archie said grabbing the charts from Tracy. "Great seeing you Luka. Stop in a few times before you leave," Archie told the Croatian doctor. "Oh, and I'm sure Sam would love to see you again."

Luka turned to Frank and asked the question that he suddenly had. "Where is she?"

**Scene 3:**

"First it was dinner last night and now we are even doing breakfast in the morning before our shifts," Lindsey commented to Simon. "What do you think that means?"

The two of them were walking towards County General after finishing breakfast at a diner close to the hospital. As usual, Lindsey did most of the talking and Simon was always very quiet, reserved, and Lindsey thought almost a bit preoccupied at times.

"Simon…earth to Simon," Lindsey finally said when Brenner failed to answer her question. "Is everything ok?"

"What? Oh…yes…of course," Brenner responded hesitantly. "What was your question again?"

"You know, I'm starting to think that there might be someone else," Lindsey said as the two of them entered the ambulance bay.

"Why do you think that?" Brenner asked defensively.

"Maybe it is because every time I talk about us you clam up on me," Lindsey responded. "Maybe it's because you always seem so distant from me. Or maybe it's the fact that we have been dating for three weeks, yet you always make some excuse as why you have to leave at night. Simon, it has been three weeks and you've hardly touched me at all, yet alone slept with me."

"Maybe I'm one of those guys who likes to take things slow," Brenner said, half defending himself and half trying to make a joke out of it.

Lindsey however was not amused. As the two of them walked into the ER, Morgan decided to make Brenner an ultimatum. "Ok Simon, until you feel like telling me what the _hell_ is going on with you, don't talk to me. And if you need a nurse to help you with a patient, you had better find someone else!"

Morgan stormed into the doctor's lounge as Brenner walked up to the admit desk. "Did someone poison her coffee this morning?" Frank asked after witnessing the blow-up between the two of them.

Brenner decided to ignore the question and saw the tall Croatian at the admit desk as well. "Excuse me, can I help you?" he asked Kovac.

"No, that will be ok," Luka responded. "Frank here was just giving me some information. I'm Dr. Kovac," he said and shook Brenner's hand before walking out.

Brenner was about to leave as well before Frank stopped him. "I've got some mail for you Dr. Brenner. Looks like an early Thanksgiving card from Dr. Rasgotra."

**Scene 4:**

Tony Gates walked into Cate Banfield's office. Frank told him that Dr. Banfield wanted to see him, but now he was nervous as to what she could have wanted. Ever since Sam got shot over a month ago, his concentration on his work in the ER had not been the same. It just didn't feel as important to him anymore. Now he had new priorities. Sara, Sam, Alex…his family…that was what was most important to him. He just didn't put the ER above all else anymore. His work was still important to him, but not the most important.

"You wanted to see me Dr. Banfield?" Gates asked as he entered her office.

"Dr. Gates, yes, please come in," Banfield motioned. "I have to leave for a conference downtown not too long from now, but I wanted to discuss something with you before I go."

Gates sat down in a chair in front of Banfield's desk. "I didn't do anything wrong did I?" he asked. He still had no clue what Banfield wanted him for and he was quite nervous. "If this is about taking time off to make sure Sam was ok, I am not going to apologize for it."

"Dr. Gates, I suggest you stop talking before you actually do get yourself in trouble and just listen to me," Banfield told him strictly. Although she was not quite as harsh now as she was when she first got to County, no one would call her "warm and fuzzy."

"You've been a resident in this ER for a couple of years now," she began. "I just wanted to inform you that we are looking for a chief resident to start at the beginning of the second semester of the academic year."

"That would be January," Gates said as he followed Banfield's train of thought. "I thought chief residents usually started at the beginning of each academic year in September."

"Usually they do, but these aren't usual circumstances," Banfield explained. "In an effort to reduce costs we decided not to appoint a chief resident in September because of the fact that I have four attendings, Dr. Brenner, Dr. Morris, Dr. Carter, and myself down there."

"But now things have changed?" Gates asked confused. "As far as I know we still have the same staff down there today that we had then."

"After talking things over with Dr. Anspaugh we both decided that the ER would be more productive if there was another leader down there. The chief resident would have to work more hours, certainly nights and weekends and would be given more responsibility. I tell you all this now so you have a few weeks to decide if you would like to apply or not."

**Scene 5:**

"You have two weeks vacation this year," Sara reminded Rachel. "You could spend one week with your mother in St. Louis and one week with your sister in North Carolina."

"That would be awfully expensive to get two plane tickets," Rachel said as she brushed her hair. "I'm not sure I can justify spending that much money."

Sara was writing a check to pay her cell phone bill. "You don't have to fly to St. Louis silly," Sara told her. "I'll drive down there with you. It's only like five or six hours. And if you're worried about money, I'm sure your stepmom or that Dr. Carter could help you out."

Rachel thought about the idea that her best friend had suggested. Driving to St. Louis would save money so that was a good thing. Spending one week with her mom and one week with Ella gave her the best of both worlds. And having Sara accompany her to St. Louis would give her some company.

"You would really drive down to St. Louis with me?" Rachel asked her best friend.

"Are you kidding? Sara asked sarcastically. "I would love to see the Arch. Besides, St. Louis is where Anheiser Busch is located. Talk about a great place to find alcohol."

Rachel just laughed. Sara was one of the smartest people she knew but she was also very pretty and very funny. And boy did she love to drink and have a good time.

"Ok, it's a deal," Rachel said, agreeing to her friend's terms. "But before we go I need to stop by the hospital and tell Dr. Dubenko that I am going to see Elizabeth."

"Why would he care about that?" Sara asked.

"He wants me to find out if Elizabeth has any interest in coming back to County," Rachel explained to her. "I'll be gone for probably an hour. Will you be ready to leave by then?"

Sara nodded and smiled. "Yep that will give me just enough time to pack. I still need to figure out what I want to take, but I will be ready by the time you get back. I promise."

Rachel left their dorm room and headed out to County. Most of the time when she went there was spent watching Dr. Carter and trying to learn as much as possible while staying out of everyone's way. Carter had told her that he would be in Paris for the next couple weeks, so she was hoping that she didn't run into anyone at County that would try to strike up a real long conversation with her. No, she had to leave town and didn't have time for small talk.

"Don't worry Dad. I will say hi to Ella and Elizabeth for you," she said to herself.

**Scene 6:**

"Mom, come on," Sam pleaded with her mother. "It is cold and snowing outside. You really can't go out there. Let's just stay inside. You can drink your tea and tell me what you did yesterday."

Mary Taggart was not in a good mood that day. That wasn't really any different than her mood was any other day. She did appreciate her daughter coming to visit her all the time, but she felt like Samantha treated her like an invalid at times.

"Go home Samantha," she insisted. "Go home or go to work or go somewhere that is not here. You don't have to sit here and take care of me all the damn time. I am a grown woman who can take care of herself."

"I don't go back to work until next week," Sam reminded her mother. "And trust me it is no picnic for me to stop by here all the time either. But someone has to because you do a real poor job of taking care of yourself!"

A knock at Mary's open door put an end to there argument before it could go any farther. Mary noticed a man at the door but had a hard time making out who it was. "Tony, is that you?" she asked the figure at the door.

Sam looked up and knew that it could not be Tony unless something was wrong because Tony was supposed to be working until late that evening. It did not take Sam long to figure out who was at the door.

"No Mom, this is Luka," Sam said as she met Luka at the door and led him into her mother's room. "Luka, this is my mother."

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Taggart," Luka said with his thick Croatian accent and a smile.

Mary Taggart just started talking to herself. "I don't know of any Luka," she said. "It sounds like some damn Communist name if you ask me!"

"Mom, apologize to Luka right now!" Sam demanded extremely embarrassed.

"No Sam, it is quite ok," Luka said trying to defuse another argument before it even started. "In a way you're right Mrs. Taggart," Luka explained. "I am from Croatia, and it was part of the Soviet Union when I was a kid."

"I told you he was one of those damn Communists Samantha!" Mary hissed. "Now would you mind telling me who the hell this man is and where Tony is?" she demanded.

"Luka is…an old friend," Sam explained to her mom. "He used to work with me at the hospital. Maybe if you would have been a part of my life you would know we used to date!" Sam said angrily.

**Scene 7:**

Tracy led Archie to the first of the three patients she had seen this morning. Now that she was two months into her residency she wasn't quite as nervous about presenting patients as she used to be, but she still sometimes worried that she would make some mistake that one of the more veteran doctors would catch easily.

"This is Stephanie," Tracy said as they entered curtain area one. "She is a cheerleader and fell off the top of the pyramid. Stephanie, this is Dr. Morris."

"Those pyramids are dangerous," Morris commented. "I wonder when they are going to stop doing them." He then turned to Tracy as he looked at her chart. "What is her chief complaint?"

"She's been complaining of a lot of shoulder pain," Tracy told him. "I gave her some morphine to ease the pain."

"Have you done a CT to rule out any structural damage?" Morris asked her.

Dr. Martin pulled out the scan and showed it to Dr. Morris. "It looks like she has a torn labrum," she said pointing out the area on the scan. "I called for a surgical consult, but no one has come down yet. That was three hours ago."

Dr. Morris was frustrated. "How are we expected to be able to discharge patients if we can't ever get a damn consult around here?" He looked around and saw Julia Wise coming out of the suture room. "Julia, come over here for a second," he said waving her over. "I want you to go upstairs and find a surgeon and drag their ass down here so we can take care of this young girl," he explained.

"What if they say they're busy or just refuse to come down?" Julia asked.

"Go up there and find a surgeon!" Morris insisted. "And don't come back down here until you have a surgeon coming with you. It is ridiculous how long we have to wait down here sometimes."

Julia Wise got the hint and ran upstairs to find someone to bring back down to the ER. Tracy's next patient was just a few feet from Stephanie so she continued on with the presenting.

"Ok Dr. Martin, who is this and how can we help them?" Morris asked her. He knew the importance of leading but not showing in this teaching hospital.

"Her name is Mariah, and she was…" Tracy struggled to find a word that would not embarrass everyone. "She was helping herself when something got stuck," she finished and lifted the sheet covering the lower part of Mariah's body.

**Scene 8:**

"Your mother seems like a nice lady," Luka said to Sam as the two of them walked out of the nursing home that her mother was staying at. "She isn't shy about sharing her feelings."

"My mom turned her back on me when I needed her the most," Sam said with a hint of anger in her voice. "I was sixteen, pregnant, and scared to death. And _that _woman kicked me out of the house! Then my sister shows up a few months ago and dumps her in my lap…"

Luka just smiled as this story seemed all too familiar. "So why are you taking care of her if she's hurt you so badly?" he asked her, though he already knew the answer.

"I don't know…" Sam stammered. "After everything she's done…after everything she's put me through…she's still my mother. She's still family and I need to take care of her. Does that make me crazy?"

Luka laughed for a second and smiled at Sam. In that instant Sam remembered what made him so attractive and why she liked him so much. He was a big man but had such a gentle soul. And when she needed his help he always seemed to be there.

"No, it does not make you crazy," Luka responded to Sam's question. "It makes you who you are. You've always been a giver…" Luka paused looking for the right words. Despite the fact that he had been in the United States for several years now he still sometimes struggled finding the appropriate word for what he wanted to say. "You are a protector," he finally said after finding the word that he wanted. "That is why you have been such a good mother to Alex."

"I guess so," Sam said before realizing that here she was talking to her ex-boyfriend who had moved to Boston and was now back in Chicago. This was a pretty weird set of circumstances and now Sam was curious as to why Luka was in town.

"Hey, what are you doing back in Chicago?" she asked him. "And don't you dare tell me that you were just in town so you thought you would stop by because you can't just be in town. Is Abby with you?"

"Abby and Joe are still in Boston," Luka explained. "I am attending a medical conference in town this week. Plus, Abby's mom is spending sometime with Abby and her grandson for the next week or two and I think Abby would like to spend some alone time with her."

"So you came all the way to Chicago to avoid your mother in law," Sam commented. "And then you wind up meeting my deranged mother. Compared to my mom, Abby's mom probably seems like an angel."

**Scene 9:**

"Well, that's interesting," Archie said to Tracy and Mariah, not quite sure what to say. "Are you in any pain?" he asked Mariah.

Mariah shook her head no but did not say anything as she was extremely embarrassed by the whole situation. For what it was worth, everybody in the room was a little embarrassed and there was a noticeable silence that came over everyone.

"Ok Dr. Martin, I think this one would probably be handled best by you," Morris said as he prepared to leave the curtain area. He looked over and saw Yosh refilling a cart. "Yosh, can you get Dr. Martin a pair of tongs?"

"Right away Dr. Morris," Yosh Takata replied and went off to fetch the tongs.

"You shouldn't have any problems," Morris told Martin and then turned to Mariah. "You are in excellent hands. Dr. Martin will take good care of you."

Archie left the curtain area and saw Simon go into the doctor's lounge. From the look on his face, Archie could tell that something was wrong. "Frank do you know what is wrong with Brenner?" he asked the desk clerk.

"The Aussie just got a letter from our favorite Indian surgeon," Frank replied. "And that is Indian with a dot and not a feather. I know you're not that smart so I thought I'd help you out a little."

"Haha, very funny Frank," Morris shot back and decided to see if he could help out his friend. When Archie walked in Simon was getting a cup of coffee.

Archie normally would have beaten around the bush but he felt that going with that approach would get him nowhere so he just decided to get to the point right away. "I hear you got a letter from Neela," Archie said.

"Yep," Simon said and continued to drink his coffee. His short answer was planned. He really had no interest talking to anyone about Neela or Lindsey or anyone else. He just wanted to drink his coffee in peace.

Archie could tell that Simon didn't want to talk either and made his way back to the door. "Ok man, well we are pretty slow out here. I think I can handle it for a while if you just want to relax."

Archie opened the door and was just about to leave when Simon started speaking. "What is that saying?" he started. "Tigers can't change their stripes?"

Archie closed the door and turned back to Simon. "What are we talking about here?" he asked. "Did something more happen between you and Neela?"

**Scene 10:**

Dr. Gates rushed down the stairs and ran to the admit desk. "You've been paging me?" he asked Frank in a hurry. "What's going on down here?"

"Paramedics just called," Frank informed him. "Seems there was a knock down brawl outside a diner a couple blocks away. Moral of the story is never to get in between a man and his food I guess."

"That's nice Frank," Gates commented on Fran's attempt to crack some type of joke for every situation. "I kind of need to know how many to expect. And where are the attendings on the floor?"

"With Banfield at the conference and Carter out making nice with the French people it's just Morris and Brenner down here," Frank told him. "Oh, and there's only two coming in."

Gates was now confused. "Why was it such an emergency for me to come down here if there were only two patients coming in?" he asked Frank.

Frank just shook his head. "Morris and Brenner aren't answering their page. I can't find them anywhere. It's like they went AWOL."

Just then the doors to the ER swung open and Zadro came rushing through. "56 year old male with multiple stab wounds to the abdomen and face," he announced. "The wounds look like they've been made by a butcher's knife."

Gates saw Pickman crashing through with the second gurney and knew that he needed to make a quick decision now. "Morgan, you're with me," he yelled out over the chaos. "Tracy, Lydia, you take the next one. And Yosh, find Morris and Brenner pronto!"

Gates, Zadro, and Morgan wheeled the fifty-six year old into trauma one and assessed the damage. "Most of these wounds look superficial," Gates said as he examed the man's body with his hands and then run his fingers over a large opening in the man's stomach. "This one's really deep," he announced. "Looks like it might have punctured part of the small intestine."

"His heart rate is stable," Morgan announced while looking at the monitors. "Can we fix him down here?"

"We need to get him up to surgery," Gates said. "Prepare to move him."

Dubenko and Wise entered the trauma room just as they were about to exit. "No need for you to go up," he said. "I'll take him. Oh, Dr. Wise, tell Morris that his guy will have to wait!"

**Scene 11:**

Luka just laughed at the thought of Abby's mother Maggie. She was many things but describing her as an angel would not be the first word that came to his mind.

"It's important that Abby and Maggie have this time together," he explained to Sam. "They've had a lot of issues over the years as a result of her being bipolar and they are finally starting to work things out."

Sam nodded in understanding as they were now standing outside of the complex where Sam's mother was staying. It was a week before Thanksgiving and it was pretty darn cold out there. Sam was at a loss for words as she didn't really know what else to say to her former lover.

"Well, I better get home to get dinner started for Alex and Sara," Sam told him. "Besides, don't you have a conference to be going to?"

"I don't have to show up there until tomorrow," Luka replied. "Who is Sara?"

Sam realized that Luka did not know that she and Alex were living with Gates and let out an embarrassed grin. "Sara is…she's Gates' daughter," Sam explained. "Well, not biological daughter, but…" Sam could tell she was rambling a bit.

"Your mother mentioned Gates a lot," Luka observed. "So you two are dating now?"

"No!" Sam replied quickly and emphatically. It was such a quick response that it almost seemed like she was trying to convince herself as well as Luka. "No, we aren't dating. We were dating but we aren't anymore. Definitely not."

"So you're just living together and sleeping together then?" Luka asked, although he could tell that he hit a nerve when he brought Gates up.

"Luka!" Sam exclaimed. "No! No we aren't sleeping together. Our living together is just a temporary thing. It's just temporary…" her voice trailed off.

Luka brushed the hair out of his face with his hand. "It looks to me like you want things to be different between you and Gates," he commented. "Otherwise you wouldn't react so much to some simple questions."

Sam didn't like where this was going. Luka was making her confront feelings that she didn't really want to confront. She knew in her heart that she wanted to be with Tony, that she loved him, but so much had happened between them that she wasn't sure that they could go back even if she wanted to. "Luka, it's not that simple…" Sam started.

"When I lost my wife and kids I thought I would never love again," Luka reminded her. "It hasn't been the easiest for Abby and me but that's what makes love worth it."

**Scene 12:**

Julia Wise entered the doctor's lounge as that was the last place she had yet to look for Dr. Morris. Morris had told her earlier that she wasn't supposed to come back down to the ER until she brought a surgeon with her to look at the possible torn labrum patient in exam one. Now the truth was that she had fulfilled all of his requirements. She waited upstairs until Dr. Dubenko was available and then brought him down to the ER. All of these things were good. Now the bad news was that Dubenko went upstairs with another patient and Dr. Morris' patient was still waiting to be looked at. Wise did not have a good feeling about the conversation she was about to have.

"Dr. Morris, I wanted to tell you…" she stammered before getting cut off by the attending.

"We're kind of busy in here," Morris told the medical student. "If you need something go find Dr. Gates. Or maybe Dr. Banfield is still in the building."

"Ok Dr. Morris," Wise said quietly. "I'm sorry for bothering you."

Julia Wise once again exited the doctor's lounge and Archie and Simon thought that they were alone once more. However, that alone time did not last very long. Just as they were about to resume their conversation, Yosh Takata came in looking for them.

"Dr. Morris, Dr. Brenner, Dr. Gates needs some assistance," he explained. "We had a couple of men come in with multiple stab wounds. Dr. Dubenko already took one up to surgery and I think Dr. Martin is working on the other one."

"Alright, tell Dr. Martin I'll be right there," Morris told the nurse and turned back to Brenner. "I don't know what to tell you man," he said. "Maybe you should talk to Neela about this stuff. If you tell her what happened I'm sure she will understand."

"I don't know if I can talk to Neela about this," Brenner responded. "Or to Lindsey…"

"Simon, I really gotta go man. Good luck." Archie exited the doctor's lounge and ran right into Tracy who was wheeling her patient out. Archie was suddenly confused.

"Yosh told me that you needed me," he said to Tracy.

"I did but Dr. Crenshaw came down for a consult so we are going to move him upstairs. I guess Dubenko is working on the first guy so Crenshaw is going to handle this one," Tracy explained.

Archie went about his business and passed Lindsey Morgan. He did not ever like talking to Morgan but he felt like he should try to help Simon out.

"You should cut Brenner some slack," he told her. "He's going through some stuff."

**Scene 13:**

Lindsey walked out into the ambulance bay where Brenner was standing. The snow was once again falling and it was brutally cold outside, yet that did not stop Brenner from not having a coat on.

"What are you doing out here?" Morgan asked him.

Brenner did not turn around to answer her. He just kept staring up at the sky and watching the snow fall. After a moment he finally answered her. "I'm waiting for a trauma to come in, that's all."

This made Morgan angry once more as she knew that a trauma had not been called in to County. Brenner was suddenly acting really weird and she was pretty sick of it all.

"Are you ever going to tell me what the hell is going on with you?" Morgan demanded. "Are you ever going to let me in? Or am I not worthy of being in Simon's world? Morris told me to cut you some slack, and I foolishly came out here to try and help you but you are the same selfish bastard you were this morning!"

When she was done with her rant, Brenner finally turned around to speak to her. "It's not you, just like it wasn't Neela. It has everything to do with me."

"What does that even mean?" Morgan asked. "And who is Neela?"

"Neela's my ex," Brenner explained. "I received a letter today and…"

Lindsey had heard enough. "I asked you if you had a girlfriend and you told me you didn't Simon!" she exclaimed. "I'm such a fool. I thought you were a good guy but you're no different from the rest of them. You're just a selfish prick!"

Lindsey turned and started to walk back inside and Simon had every intention of letting her do so. At least that was his initial thought.

"Lindsey wait…" he pleaded with her. "Come back here and let's talk about this. About us."

Lindsey turned around and Simon could see the tears that were rolling down her face. "What could we possibly have to talk about?" she asked. "I didn't think there was an us."

"Neela's gone," he told her. "She moved to New Orleans and has a boyfriend. I don't want to get back together with her because there is a beautiful woman here in front of me. I just don't want to make the same mistakes with you that I did with Neela."

"Then don't," Lindsey responded. "Tell me what is going on with you and let me help."

**Scene 14:**

The clock said 11:30 when Gates walked in that night. He was supposed to be off at 8:00, so he was considerably late. When he walked into the apartment most of the lights were off. Sara and Alex were already asleep by now as they had to get up early for school the next morning. Gates put his bag down and hung up his coat and walked into the kitchen. Sam was sitting at the table waiting for him with a cup of tea in her hand.

"You're home late," she commented. "Did you go out for a drink after your shift?"

"I know, I should have called but we got really busy with a late trauma and I had to stay an extra few hours," Tony told her. "Oh, and you wouldn't believe the meeting I had with Banfield today. Apparently I'm in the running for Chief Resident."

Tony got a cup of tea and sat down at the table across from Sam. He could tell that something was on her mind and that she probably didn't hear a word that he had just said. "Sam what's wrong?" he asked her.

Sam looked up from her tea and a single tear began to roll down her face. "Why did you have to do it Tony?" she asked, her voice shaking.

Tony had no clue what Sam was talking about. "Do what? What did I do Sam?"

"You slept with Daria," Sam said with noticeable hurt in her voice. "She was all over you while we were dating. You let her get in between us and the minute we broke up she ends up in your bed!"

"Sam, I made a mistake. I'm sorry about it. There's nothing I can do to change it," he pleaded with her. "But I thought we were past that. What brought Daria up?"

Sam heard Tony's question but continued on her train of thought. "Was she better than me Tony!? Was having sex with her better than having sex with me!?"

"I was drunk and made a stupid mistake. I would do anything to make it up to you," he told her.

Sam took a deep breath and finally calmed down a bit. "Luka came to see me while I was visiting my mom today," she said.

"Kovac is in town?" Gates asked more confused than ever. "Why is he in town and what does he have to do with anything?"

"Seeing him today reminded me of some things," Sam explained. "All I could think about all day was how he risked his life to save mine and was always so good to me. And then I thought about you and me and all of that pain came back. I don't want to hurt anymore Tony. I don't want to be haunted by what could have been…by the past."


	7. Chapter 7

ER Season 16 Episode 7: "A Thanksgiving to Remember"

**Starring:**

Goran Visnjic (Luka Kovac)

David Lyons (Simon Brenner)

John Stamos (Tony Gates)

Leland Orser (Lucien Dubenko)

Linda Cardellini (Samantha Taggart)

Scott Grimes (Archie Morris)

Alexis Bledel (Julia Wise)

Emily Rose (Tracy Martin)

Hallee Hirsh (Rachel Greene)

And Angela Bassett (Cate Banfield)

**Special Guest Stars:**

John Alyward (Dr. Donald Anspaugh)

Jennie Garth (Nurse Lindsey Morgan)

**Guest Stars:**

Abraham Benrubi (Jerry Markovic)

Troy Evans (Frank Martin)

Laura Ceron (Chuny Marquez)

Dominic James (Alex Taggart)

Chloe Greenfield (Sara Riley)

**Scene 1:**

"What do you mean all the flights have been cancelled?" Luka Kovac asked the airport clerk desperately. "It is Thanksgiving! I have to get home to my wife and son in Boston."

The clerk checked her computer one more time before shaking her head again. "I'm sorry Mr. Kovac," she consoled him. "The winter storm has cancelled all of our flights. We are hoping to be back up and running by early tomorrow morning."

Luka was not at all pleased but knew that taking his frustrations out on this woman would not do anything to help things. It was not her fault that the flights were all cancelled. No, that could be blamed squarely on the excessive amount of snowfall. She was just the messenger.

"You don't have to apologize," Luka told her. "I appreciate your effort."

As Luka began to walk away, the young woman had an idea. "Mr. Kovac, isn't there someone in town you could spend Thanksgiving with? No one should have to be alone."

**Scene 2:**

Archie Morris erased the last name from the board and started to hum a little tune to himself.

"Are you ok Dr. Morris?" Jerry asked him from his spot behind the admit desk. "I think you might be going a little bit crazy."

"Well Jerry, crazy is a relative term," the red-headed doctor told him. "I might be crazy but that's just because today is Thanksgiving."

"Don't be so sure Jerry," Lindsey Morgan commented. "From what I've seen Dr. Morris is crazy all the time."

Morris turned around, pointed at Morgan, and chuckled out loud. "Ha!" he exclaimed. "Not even the likes of you, Miss "No-Fun Nurse" can get me down today. For today is Thanksgiving and I am leaving to spend it with my beautiful girlfriend and going to go feed a bunch of needy kids."

"Dr. Morris, do I need to remind you that Dr. Banfield is off today and Carter is still out of town? That leaves you and Dr. Brenner as the only attendings on the floor," Morgan said.

"Since I'm not the Chief around here, it's not my problem," Morris responded as he headed towards the door. "If you get in a bind just have Jerry start taking patients. He could pass as a doctor."

The doors to the ER shut and Dr. Morris was gone. Morgan gave Jerry a confused and not at all amused look and Jerry just shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me," he told the nurse. "I have no idea what he is talking about."

Just then Donald Anspaugh, the acting Chief of Staff at County General walked in to the ER and was flanked by a familiar face. He looked around and saw Morgan, Jerry, and Tracy Martin all standing around and felt like this was a good enough crowd.

"Ok everybody, I have an announcement to make," Anspaugh said and waited for everyone to give him their undivided attention. "It seems like Boston's loss is our gain. I know there is a shortage of attendings on the floor down here today after Dr. Banfield called in sick but I have a solution." Anspaugh gestured to Luka. "Dr. Kovac has been stranded here because of the snow and has volunteered to work down here today. That is all."

Morgan looked back at Jerry with a befuddled look on her face. "Is this the Dr. Kovac that all of the nurses told me so much about?" she asked.

"The one and only," Jerry said proudly.

**Scene 3:**

"I can't believe that after being off for more than a month they are making you go back to work on Thanksgiving," Alex said to Sam as she was preparing to leave for work. "That just doesn't seem fair."

"Life isn't always fair Alex," Sam reminded him. "And don't worry, I will be home for dinner. I'm only working during the day."

"What time does Tony get off?" Sara asked Sam. "He had already left this morning before I woke up."

"We're both off at six," Sam informed the two teenagers. "On the way home we'll pick up something to eat for dinner. But guys, I really do have to go."

With that Sam was gone and Alex and Sara were left alone. Thanksgiving meant no school which was a good thing, but something was visibly wrong with Sara. Alex could tell by the look that she had on her face.

"You ok?" he asked her as he got some cereal from the cupboard. "Looks like something is bothering you."

"It's nothing…"Sara started and then stopped. It was not long before she began speaking once again. "It's just…my mom always made this big Thanksgiving day dinner. And Tony was home last Thanksgiving so he and I made it. It wasn't as good but it was still something. I don't want to eat some store bought meal today."

"Do you know how to cook?" Alex asked her as he poured his milk.

Sara bit her bottom lip and frowned. "No," she said. "But, I do watch the Food Network sometimes. We could follow one of their recipes and have this great meal for when your mom and Tony come home!"

"Who is this we you are talking about?" Alex asked. "I never agreed to help you with any of this. I don't know the first thing about cooking."

"Neither do I," Sara reminded him. "That is what will make this so much fun. We can learn as we go. Please Alex, I can't do it without you. Please…"

Alex looked at Sara and could tell that she really wanted to do this. "Ok fine," he finally agreed. "Let me finish my breakfast and we can go to the store and get the stuff we need."

Sara ran over and hugged Alex while he was eating. "Thank you Alex! Thank you so much. We are going to have a lot of fun, I promise!"

**Scene 4:**

"Chuny, what is this man's problem?" Tracy Martin asked the nurse as she entered the exam room.

"Mr. Jacobs thought it would be a good idea to go ice fishing today, except there was one problem…" Chuny started to explain.

"And that was?" Tracy asked realizing that Chuny wasn't going to finish the story until Tracy showed a little bit of interest in it.

"It hasn't been cold enough for the lake to completely freeze over," Chuny told her. "As soon as Mr. Jacobs got out there he fell through the ice and into the water."

"Alright Mr. Jacobs, we'll have you taken care of in no time," Tracy said trying to reassure the man. "Are you currently experiencing any pain?"

"No, just really cold," Jacobs said in between shivers. "I'm so cold."

"What's his temperature right now?" Tracy asked Chuny.

"96.6," Chuny told her. "Should I go find an attending?" The look on Chuny's face made it seem like she did not like their odds of saving Mr. Jacobs.

"No, no that isn't necessary," Tracy said trying to convince not only Chuny but also herself that they could save this man. "All we have to do is get his temperature up before he goes into a cardiac arrest."

"I don't know if we have a lot of time," Chuny said reminding Tracy that a person could not live at such a low temperature for long. "What do you want me to do?"

Dr. Martin had already made her way over to the thermostat in the room. She changed the setting from where it was at 72 degrees and moved it to 86 degrees. "Go get me one of those heating lamps and some hot water," she instructed Chuny. "We're going to turn this room into a sauna."

"Alright Dr. Martin, I hope you know what you are doing," Chuny said and immediately exited the room.

Martin waited until Chuny was gone and looked at the extremely cold Mr. Jacobs. "For your sake Mr. Jacobs, I hope I know what I'm doing as well."

"I'm sure you'll do just fine," Jacobs replied. Tracy was suddenly embarrassed. She didn't realize that Mr. Jacobs was actually awake enough to hear what she was saying.

"I better not let this man down now," Martin thought to herself.

**Scene 5:**

Tony Gates noticed Chuny running around like crazy trying to find things and thought that he had better check out what was going on.

"What are you looking for Chuny?" he asked as she came out of the supply room.

Chuny jumped a little as she was surprised that anyone had been paying attention to her. "Oh, Gates, it's just you," she exclaimed after realizing who she was talking to.

"Yes, it's just me," Gates confirmed. "Now do you mind telling me what you're up to?"

"Dr. Martin has a patient in exam one that needs an immediate warmup," Chuny explained. "I am trying to find anything that I can to help with the process."

Gates had heard enough and decided that he needed to check out what was going on himself. "Tracy, what's going on in here?" he asked as he entered the exam room. "What's his problem?"

"Mr. Jacobs fell through the ice and is now dangerously close to experiencing hypothermia," Martin explained. "I am doing what I can to warm him up as quickly as possible."

"Get him out of all of these wet clothes," Gates instructed. "Then we need to throw some blankets on him. Chuny, let's get some hot liquids in him."

"I don't think he's able to drink anything right now," Martin explained to him. "I think he is too cold to drink anything, even through a straw."

Gates grabbed an intubation kit and moved himself into position. "Well the first thing we need to do is tube this guy so he doesn't stop breathing on us." Gates passed the tube through the cords successfully. "Bag him Tracy."

Dr. Martin began bagging the patient and was curious as to what Gates was going to do next. She had learned how to treat hypothermia in medical school but for whatever reason, she couldn't remember exactly how to handle the situation now when she needed it the most.

"Chuny, get me a central line kit. We're going to pump warm saline into his system to try to jack his body temp up," Gates instructed.

Chuny gave him a quizzical look. "Should I go find an attending?" she asked him hesitantly. "Are you two sure you know what you're doing in here?"

Gates gave the nurse an annoyed look and it was not hard to tell that he was not at all pleased. "Keep bagging him Tracy! And whatever you do, don't let this man crash!"

**Scene 6:**

"Yo doc, what's a guy gotta do around here to get a little attention?" the middle aged man said to Dr. Brenner as Brenner passed him in the hallway. "I've been here for two hours. That Mexican nurse told me to wait patiently over in Curtain 2, whatever the hell that is, and that a doc would be right with me. It's been two hours doc! I'm tired, I'm pissed, and I need to get home to carve the turkey."

Brenner motioned for the man to sit down on the bed behind him. "What's your name sir and what symptoms do you have?"

"Name's Ralph. You're not even American. Probably one of those damn Aussie's. I hate Aussies," Ralph said, commenting on Brenner's accent before quickly moving past it. "Hurts like a sonuvabitch when I piss doc. I'd just like to be able to piss in peace for a change."

"Sounds like you probably have a urinary tract infection Ralph," Brenner informed him. "I'll have a nurse come and draw some blood just so we can be sure."

"Am I gonna have to piss in a cup too?" Ralph asked.

"Yeah, but it's not that bad—just like taking a routine drug test."

"I hate drug tests," Ralph announced suddenly. "I swear to you doc, those employer bastards try to frame me all the time. I'm always clean but I never pass those things."

Dr. Brenner suddenly had a real urge to end this conversation. Ralph seemed like a man who had spent a good deal of time on the wrong side of the tracks, and Simon didn't feel like continuing the conversation, so he quickly scanned the admit area for an available nurse.

"Lindsey, Ralph here needs some blood drawn," Brenner started before being stopped suddenly.

"Draw your own damn blood Simon!" she responded. "Better yet, just go to hell!" Lindsey said in defiance before storming into the doctor's lounge.

"Don't worry Dr. Brenner, I'll draw blood on your patient," Sam told him as she approached both Brenner and Ralph.

Ralph took one look at Sam and his eyes lit up. "Oh doc, if she's gonna work on me I can stay as long as you need, honest."

Sam ignored Ralph's statement and turned her attention to Brenner. "What was that all about with Lindsey?" she asked.

**Scene 7:**

Lindsey Morgan entered the doctor's lounge and angrily slammed a fist against Simon Brenner's locker.

"Did Dr. Brenner do something that you don't agree with?" Luka Kovac asked while drinking his coffee.

"How do you know I'm mad at Dr. Brenner?" Lindsey asked, a little embarrassed that her tantrum had been witnessed.

Luka smiled and motioned for Lindsey to take a seat at the table next to him. "I worked here at County for nearly 10 years," he explained. "The people might be different, but the story never changes."

Morgan took a seat next to Kovac at the table. "Men are scumb," she told him. "All men are the same: lying bastards who only look out for themselves. Men with accents are the worst."

"I have not been around Dr. Brenner long enough to know what he is like," Kovac responded. "But I do know a thing or two about men. It's all about finding the right woman. I'm sure Dr. Brenner will explain everything you need to know if you give him the chance."

Morgan turned her attention onto Kovac. "And what about you Dr. Kovac? Here it is, Thanksgiving day. You aren't with your wife or your kid. Instead you're sitting in a hospital in Chicago drinking coffee and defending a man you barely know. What kind of husband and father does that make you?"

"I love my family very much," Kovac said in his defense. "I tried to get a flight back to Boston today, but the earliest available flight isn't until tomorrow."

"So you thought you'd come back and help us poor souls at County?" Morgan asked him sarcastically. "Sorry Dr. Kovac, but that is the biggest load of crap I've heard for a while."

Suddenly Chuny rushed into the doctor's lounge. "Luka," she said breathing hard. "Gates is having trouble with a patient. Can you come take a look?"

Luka put down his coffee and pick up his stethoscope. "I'll be right there Chuny." He then turned his attention back to the blonde nurse. "Listen, I don't know what happened to you to make you view the world negatively, but there are good people out there. You want to see bad stuff? Go over to Croatia and witness people who are still dying pointless deaths. Until you see that stuff, you should fix your attitude."

With that Kovac was gone from the doctor's lounge.

**Scene 8:**

"Gates, fill me in," the Croatian doctor said as he came in to join both Gates and Tracy Martin. This was the first patient that he had seen at County in nearly two years and it was a little bit of a surreal feeling. It felt like this was where he belonged, but at the same time something wasn't right. He looked at the people in the room and with the exception of Chuny, they semed foreign to him. Gates, Martin—these people were part of the new regime at County. The old regime, the one that included him, Abby, Greene, Lewis, Weaver, Pratt, and Carter—the old regime was all gone. With the possible exception of Carter, of course.

"Middle-aged hypothermia patient," Gates explained. "Trying to intubate before he loses a rhythm, but I'm having trouble seeing past the cords."

"He doesn't need to be intubated," Kovac told him. "You," Kovac said pointing to Tracy. "You continue bagging. Chuny, get me a central line kit. Gates, come over here and let me show you how we're going to save this man's life."

Martin did not move, instead looking to Gates for instruction. Gates also remained in his place. The only person in the room that actually followed through on Luka's instructions was Chuny, who presented him with a central line kit.

After a few seconds, Luka looked up and saw that neither Gates nor Martin were moving an inch. "This man does not have time for you two to just stand around," Kovac barked. "If you two aren't willing to follow my orders, get out of my trauma room!"

Both younger doctors remained firmly in their places. "Now!" Kovac yelled. That was enough for Martin to get the hint and she hurriedly left the trauma room. Gates was a little more reluctant, but eventually he ripped off his gloves and stormed out of the trauma room himself, leaving Chuny with a bewildered look on her face.

"Chuny, can you please bag the patient while I start a central line?" Kovac asked as nicely as possible, although Chuny could tell there was still a good deal of tension in his voice.

Chuny took over bagging responsibilities and Kovac verbally announced what he was doing even though it was now just the two of them in the trauma room. "Central line in place," he announced. "Now we're going to flush his system with warm saline."

"Will that bring his body temp up?" Chuny asked.

"You tell me," Luka said as he watched the monitors.

"Body temperature is rising slowly," Chuny confirmed. "And it looks like his pulse is also beginning to stabilize. Good job Luka, it's like you never left this place at all."

**Scene 9:**

"KOVAC!" Gates yelled as the attending exited the trauma room after stabilizing Mr. Jacobs. "What the hell do you think you were doing in there! That was my trauma. You have no right and no business in interfering with my case! Hell, you don't work at this hospital anymore! You should stay away from patients!"

Luka continued walking to the admit desk to put Mr. Jacobs' chart away as Gates continued to yell at him. Once he got to admit, he turned around and faced the EMT turned resident.

"That man was going to die," Kovac said calmly. "You obviously didn't know what you were doing and neither did the young doctor that was with you. I saved his life. That's what we do around here, we save lives. It isn't about taking the credit for the save. Until you understand that, you will never be a good doctor."

"WE don't work here anymore," Gates retorted, still as hot as ever. "I do! Banfield, Brenner, Morris, Martin do. The nurses do. You should get on a plane and go back to Boston. We don't need you here!"

"I am the attending, you are the resident," Kovac said matter of factly. "That means you follow my instructions. If the patient lives, congratulations, you're a hero. But it is my responsibility if the patient dies. Perhaps you should take the rest of the day off and go home."

"You may be an attending, but you sure as hell don't have the authority to send me home!" Gates yelled back. By this point all the other doctors and nurses had stopped doing what they were doing. The patients were even silent. All eyes were fixated on the verbal sparring going on between Gates and Kovac.

"You're right Gates, he can't send you home," Simon Brenner interjected as he forced his way into the conversation. "But I can. Goodbye Dr. Gates, have a good Thanksgiving."

Tony's gaze went from Kovac to Brenner to Jerry and finally ended looking across the room at Sam, who just put her head down. "You can't be serious?" Gates asked in shock.

"Goodnight Dr. Gates," Brenner said firmly. "And when you get back make sure you thank Dr. Martin, as she will have to pick up your slack."

With that Tony Gates stormed into the doctor's lounge. He hurriedly threw all of his clothes into his duffel bag and stormed out of the ER without saying another word. Sam followed him out the door, eager for an explanation.

"Simon, you're an idiot!" Lindsey Morgan exclaimed after Gates was gone. "Do you know how short handed we are now?"

**Scene 10:**

"Tony!" Sam exclaimed as she followed him outside into the cold November night. She grabbed his hand and made him turn around to face her. "What the hell was that all about Tony?" Sam asked demanding an explanation.

"Kovac is a big Croatian prick!" Gates exclaimed with a raised voice. "The man left this hospital years ago and now he is back and thinks he is running the place."

"What happened with the patient?" Sam asked, trying to determine what really happened between Tony, her on-again/off-again lover, and Luka, the man who shared her bed for a long time before she forced him out of it.

"I had everything perfectly under control and then Kovac came in and decided he had to throw his weight around," Gates said angrily. "I didn't need his help. I am capable of doing things by myself!"

"How did Luka even find out about your patient?" Sam asked, knowing there had to be more to the story than what she was getting.

"Chuny must have gone to get him…which was wrong of her…I didn't need HIM!"

Sam was getting a fed up with Tony's attitude at this point. "Chuny obviously thought that you needed some help Tony. You were lucky she was in there! And your patient survived didn't he?"

"Well yeah but that's not the…" Tony started before Sam cut him off.

"That IS what is important at a hospital! We're here to treat patients and save lives, not get in a pissing contest with each other. I think you need to apologize to Luka," she said as she turned and started walking back inside.

"If you think I'm going to apologize to him, you are crazy!" Gates yelled back to her. "He made me look bad in front of a resident!"

Sam stopped immediately in her tracks and slowly turned around. She had reached the end of her rope with Dr. Gates for the time being. "I get it now," she said sarcastically. "It wasn't that Luka came in and saved YOUR patient for you. This is all about your stupid pride. You're all upset because you THINK he made you look bad in front of Tracy Martin! You shouldn't even care what she thinks!"

"Sam…I…I just don't like him…" Tony said, his voice trailing off.

"Save it Tony!" Sam said with tension in her voice. "I don't need to hear your excuses. You just need to figure out how to grow up. And you need to do it fast!"

**Scene 11:**

Jerry grabbed a donut that was getting kind of stale since it had been out since the morning and took a big bite out of it. "There's a lot of tension in here today," he pointed out. "Isn't it supposed to be Thanksgiving or something?"

"Way to point out the obvious big guy," Morgan said as she passed by the admit desk. "And don't you even dare say that I'm a bad mood or I'll shove that donut so far down your throat you won't ever get it out!"

Jerry waited until he thought Morgan was out of ear shot and then started talking to Dr. Martin, who was filling out paperwork at the desk. "If this is her in a good mood, I'd hate to see what she's like when she gets pissed off," he joked with the young doctor.

"I heard that Jerry!" Morgan yelled from across the room. "You better hope you aren't there when I get done with this or you might have a problem."

Dr. Martin responded to the situation without looking up from her paperwork. "Sounds like she means business. I'd watch your back if I was you."

"Lucky for me, I'm off soon. As soon as Frank gets here, I get to go home. Mom has made a Thanksgiving feast." Jerry couldn't help but smile just thinking about the dinner he had waiting for him at home.

From curtain 2, Ralph, the colorful man from earlier, finally got tired of waiting. "Hey doc!" he yelled to Dr. Martin as she had her back turned. "I'm talking to the hot chick over there! Come on, I can't wait here all day!"

Tracy turned around to see who was talking to her just as Dr. Brenner came back to Ralph's side. "You need to respect the women in this hospital more if you want to be treated quickly," Brenner explained to him.

"No, not you doc!" Ralph complained. "I told you I don't like Aussies! Send that hot doc over here to examine me. Or that hot little brunette nurse that drew my blood. I wouldn't mind examining either of them some more."

"I think you are lucky that neither one of them are here right now," Brenner stated. "I'm guessing it's safer for you if I treat you than if one of them comes over here, trust me."

"Come on doc, you're such a buzz kill!" Ralph said disappointed. "Don't you Aussies know how to have fun? I bet there are some pretty hot women on those Australian beaches!"

Sam walked back into the hospital and overheard what Ralph said. "Ralph, you have a tract infection," she stated calmly. "Oh yeah, and you're an asshole!"

**Scene 12:**

"All I know is we better have some turkey around here," Frank said, talking to himself as he entered the ER. "How I got stuck working Thanksgiving night while Mr. Eskimo gets to go home is an outrage!" he said in reference to Jerry, who moved to Alaska for a few years before returning to County. His grey beard even made him look like he belonged in the snow in a way.

"The schedule gods were nice to me because of my rugged good looks," Jerry joked with his counterpart. Jerry lowered his voice in an effort to make sure the rest of the people in the ER didn't hear him. "I think there is something in the water," he told Frank. "Everybody seems pretty stressed out today.

"I was a cop," Frank reminded him. "You don't know what stress is until you've had a loaded gun in your face."

"Good to know you are still reminding people about your cop days Frank," Dr. Kovac said as he made his way to the doctor's lounge. Once inside he spotted Sam, and it wasn't hard for him to tell that she was upset about something.

"I'm sorry for the argument I had with Gates earlier," Kovac apologized to her. "I was trying to make sure the patient survived. I don't know what his problem was."

"Gates was just being himself—an immature asshole," Sam told him. There was noticeable anger in her voice as a tear began to run down her cheek.

Luka sat down next to her and put his hand on top of hers. "What's wrong Sam? You know you can talk to me," he said flashing a smile at his ex girlfriend.

Tears continued to run down Sam's face as she began to open up to Luka. "You wouldn't cheat on someone you loved, would you Luka?"

Luka paused for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to answer that question. "I don't have the best track record with women, remember?" he asked her, half jokingly.

"Did you ever cheat on me when we were together?" she asked him point blank. Luka could see the great sadness in her eyes and by the questions she was asking, he knew that it must have something to do with Gates.

"What did Gates do?" Luka asked. "Did he hurt you?"

"We…had a fight months ago," Sam explained between tears. "Alex got hurt and I pushed Tony away. And he ended up in a med student's bed that night. I can't get the image of the two of them having sex out of my head. I don't know how to forgive him."

Luka grabbed his coat and then handed her hers. "Come on, we should get out of here."

**Scene 13:**

Simon Brenner had searched everywhere for Lindsey Morgan and finally found her standing outside in the ambulance bay. She had her head to the sky, watching the snowflakes fall from up above.

"This seems to be our spot," he said to the blonde nurse as he came up behind her. "We always seem to end up talking out here in the ambulance bay."

"Simon, I don't want to talk to you," Morgan said firmly. "I thought I made that perfectly clear earlier. And we don't have a spot because there is no "us."

Brenner stood in front of her, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "You know what I'm thankful for this year?" he asked her.

"I don't know, and to be honest, I don't really care Simon," Morgan said coldly. "I came out here for some peace and quiet. So if you don't go back inside I will."

"I'm thankful for you Lindsey," Brenner said, refusing to leave her like she wanted him to. "I'm thankful that you ended up at County. I'm thankful for the time we've spent together. I want to spend more time together and I'm not leaving here until you say yes."

Morgan did her best to hide the smile she felt creeping across her face. She was determined not to get too excited too quickly. "What about Neela?" she asked.

"I told you before, this has nothing to do with Neela," Brenner said. "I don't know where this is going with us, but I want to find out."

"What are you saying Simon?" Morgan asked. "I'm not interested in anything less than a relationship. So unless you are willing to give me that, you should take a hike."

"I want this to be a Thanksgiving to remember," Brenner told her. "Come over after work and we'll have wine and order in some food."

Morgan thought about it for a second, hesitant to give him an answer. She knew what she wanted, but was still unsure how serious he was being. There was a whole side to Simon that he kept hidden from her, and that was the part that scared her.

"Simon, I'm going to give you one more chance," she warned him. "But if I go the entire night without you touching me at all or making me feel like you want to be with me, that's it. You won't get another chance."

Brenner pulled Morgan into his arms and kissed her passionately, his tongue slipping into her mouth as the snow continued to fall down on both of them.

"I'm hoping I can convince you to spend the night," Brenner said, smiling at Morgan.

**Scene 14:**

"I think I need to get you home," Luka said as the two of them exited the hospital. "It's Thanksgiving. This is no time to be sad."

The two of them climbed into Luka's rental car and he began to drive. Sam was quiet for a few minutes, just staring out the window, before finally speaking up.

"I don't want to go back to Tony's," she told him. "I don't want to look at him right now." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Luka, what are you doing for Thanksgiving? You shouldn't have to spend it alone."

Luka gave her a quick glance before returning his attention to the road. "I was going to go back to my hotel room and get room service," he said. "But if you don't want to go back to Tony's, I bet we can find a restaurant that's open somewhere in Chicago."

"Thank you Luka. I'd like that," Sam said before going quiet again. She wrapped her hand in his without thinking. It was almost second nature to her and neither one of them said anything as they searched for a place to eat.

Back at Tony's, Gates was surprised when he walked in the door. He had just had a horrible day, but he couldn't help but smile at what he saw set up at the table. There was turkey and the rest of the Thanksgiving essentials all ready to be eaten.

"What is all of this?" he asked in shock. "Where did it all come from?"

"Haven't you ever seen a Thanksgiving dinner before?" Sara asked him sarcastically as she put four plates around the table for her, Alex, Tony, and Sam. "We made it. It wasn't that hard."

Tony still couldn't believe his eyes. "Since when do you cook!" he asked in amazement.

"Since today," Sara said proudly. "Rachel Ray and the Food Network, and it's pretty simple if you just follow instructions. Alex even helped me."

"We still don't know if it's edible or not," Alex said from the couch, engrossed in the football game that was on. "We might all end up dead."

Sara plopped down on the couch next to him and gave him a playful shove. "Shut up Alex! You're just jealous because I did most of the work!"

Tony suddenly had forgotten all about his crappy day at work. Thanks to Sara and Alex, this was going to be a great Thanksgiving. "Alex, have you heard from your mom?"

Alex looked at his phone and noticed a text. "She…isn't coming home…" he said.


	8. Chapter 8

ER Season 16 Episode 8: "Hindsight is 20/20"

**Starring:**

Anthony Edwards (Mark Greene)

Noah Wyle (John Carter)

David Lyons (Simon Brenner)

John Stamos (Tony Gates)

Leland Orser (Lucien Dubenko)

Linda Cardellini (Samantha Taggart)

Scott Grimes (Archie Morris)

Alexis Bledel (Julia Wise)

Emily Rose (Tracy Martin)

Hallee Hirsh (Rachel Greene)

And Angela Bassett (Cate Banfield)

**Special Guest Stars:**

Paul McCrane (Dr. Robert Romano)

William Daniels (Tom Stevens)

**Guest Stars:**

Kristin Minter (Randi)

Yvette Freeman (Haleh Adams)

Ellen Crawford (Lydia Wright Grabarsky)

Lily Mariye (Lily Jarvick)

Emily Wagner (Doris Pickman)

**Scene 1:**

Gates looked at his watch. 11:24 PM. Sam had been off for nearly five and a half hours, yet she still hadn't made it home. Alex had informed everyone earlier that night that she wasn't going to be home for dinner, but he didn't know why his mom wasn't going to be home or where she was going to be. This lack of information both worried and frustrated Gates. He tried to concentrate on the book he was reading—although reading wasn't the right word. He looked at the pages and would flip them after a while, but he really wasn't absorbing anything.

Sam walked in the door a few minutes later. Her hair was wet and it had looked like she had showered recently. There really wasn't anything that unusual about showering after work or even during the shift—all the blood and other bodily fluids that the doctors and nurses were exposed to in the ER made showering and staying as clean as possible a necessity. But Sam got off at 6, so why did it look like she had just showered now?

"We missed you at dinner," Gates said from his chair. Sam didn't notice he was over there and it startled her a little, but Gates pretended not to notice. "Alex and Sara made dinner. I think they were disappointed you didn't come home…"

**Scene 2:** (One week later)

John Carter strolled back into the ER, coffee in hand. It had been three weeks since he had stepped foot inside County General. He had enjoyed his vacation and the little bit of time he got to see Kem, but he was ready to get back to the grind. No matter how crazy things got, or how long he was away, this place always felt like home to him.

Lucien Dubenko was exiting Trauma 2 with a host of doctors behind him. "I'm sorry Dr. Morris," he said. "Based on your patient's age and medical condition, he wouldn't survive surgery even if I was willing to perform it. And to be frank, I am not willing to."

"All you surgeons care about is your damn success numbers isn't it!" Morris replied in anger. "If we have a patient that has the slightest chance of complications, you guys refuse to touch them! And you call yourselves doctors!" Morris said before cursing under his breath.

Dubenko, who was back on his way up to the ER, stopped in his tracks and turned around to face the ER attending. "As Chief of Surgery, it is MY call as to who we operate on and who we don't!" he said with noticeable anger in his voice. "And if you EVER disrespect me again, I'll come down so hard on you, that you'll hope and pray you don't have another surgical candidate down here again!"

Carter was about to jump in and break up the fight but the two doctors both stormed off in opposite directions before he could, leaving Tracy Martin and Julia Wise both standing there speechless next to him. Carter looked at them both and the up at the board, as he chuckled to himself.

"What's so funny?" Martin asked him.

Carter replied while continuing to examine the board. "The look on your two's faces is priceless," he smiled. "I've seen much worse around here. That was pretty minor."

"Really Dr. Carter?" Wise asked, a little shocked. She wasn't sure how anything could be worse than the exchange she just witnessed between Morris and Dubenko.

Carter now had an idea in his head and he turned to the two doctors to explain it to them. "Tracy, help Morris clear the board. And come get me if a trauma comes in."

"Where are you going to be?" Martin asked the most tenured doctor at County General.

"I'm going to borrow Dr. Wise for a few minutes and go into the doctor's lounge," Carter explained. "I am supposed to give Rachel a lecture on patient care and I know just the thing to tell her about now. Dr. Wise will benefit from this as well."

"Ok Dr. Carter," Martin said. "I just hope Dr. Morris calms down."

**Scene 3:**

Carter and Wise entered the doctor's lounge where Rachel Greene was waiting. Greene had her biology textbook open and she was busily taking notes on ADP and cell energy. The young Greene had never spoken this out loud to anyone before, but she definitely felt pressure to perform, especially being around County as much as she was. Her father carried a big shadow—one that she was determined to live up to. Granted, virtually everyone currently at County never met Mark Greene, with the exception of Carter of course, but that didn't matter. Mark Greene's presence was still felt in this hospital. His legacy was known throughout the hospital. Her dad had been gone for 8 years now, but there wasn't a doctor at County that hadn't heard a story or two about the great Mark Greene. Rachel was determined to make her dad proud.

"Working hard I hope, Rachel," Carter joked as both he and Julia Wise sat down at the table next to her. "I bet Dr. Wise can remember taking the classes that you're taking right now."

Wise glanced at the book and let out a small laugh. "I hated biology. I'm so glad that I'm done with classwork and now actually seeing patients. That class stuff never was much fun."

Greene stopped taking and notes and was now curious as to what Wise had to say. Julia was the person closest in age to Rachel at County, so she didn't feel so out of place when she was around the 4th year med student. "I bet some of the patients aren't that much fun," she said.

"No, some of them make you wonder what you're doing here," Wise agreed. "Like what happened between Dr. Dubenko and Dr. Morris today was pretty intense…"

"I heard all sorts of yelling and screaming," Greene said. "But I had no idea what it was all about. What happened?"

"We don't need to worry about Dubenko and Morris," Carter interjected. "Dr. Wise got a valuable lesson in what happens when two departments within the hospital don't work together. Sometimes we all need to remember that it's our job, the surgeons jobs—everyone's primary responsibility is to do what is in the best interest of the patient. When egos get in the way, our patients are the ones who suffer."

"So what should have happened in that situation Dr. Carter?" Wise asked. "Which one of them was right?"

"What would you have done in that situation Dr. Carter?" Greene asked. She was now as interested in the situation as Wise was.

"What happened this morning reminds me of something that happened in this hospital eight years ago," Carter started. "It's a lesson from Dr. Greene that I have never forgot."

**Scene 4:** 2002

"Dr. Carter, wake up. There's a trauma coming in," Randi, the female desk clerk told him. "They should be here in like 5 minutes."

Carter had been on all night and was looking to get some much needed sleep. It had been a very trying night and he was exhausted. "Give it to Kovac or Weaver," he said, still half asleep.

"Can't," Randi explained. "Dr. Kovac already has a trauma of his own and Weaver doesn't get in until 7."

Carter sat up and looked at his watch. It was only 6:15. Carter would have to take this case after all. He got up and but his lab coat back on. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some money. "Do me a favor and get me some coffee, would you?" he asked Randi.

Randi gave him a weird look and shoved the money back in front of his face. "I did my job," she stated. "I woke you up. You can get your own coffee. I'm no one's errand girl."

Carter went out to the admit desk and checked out the board. It was pretty quiet right now in the ER. And that was a good thing. In looking at the board, it was evident that he and Dr. Kovac were the only doctors working down there until Weaver got in at 7. As that thought entered into his mind, he suddenly was a little worried. He turned back around to talk to Randi, who was flipping through a magazine.

"How many people?" he asked her.

"Huh?" Randi asked, confused for a second before remembering what he was talking about. "Oh, I'm pretty sure it's just one," she confirmed while popping her gum.

"Well that's a relief," Carter said under his breath as he heard a familiar voice calling out his name this early in the morning.

"Carter, let's go," Haleh shouted as she rushed out the doors to meet the ambulance that was just pulling up. "We don't have all day!"

Carter looked at his watch one more time. It was now 6:22. All he had to do was survive the last 12 hours of his 36 hour shift before he had two days off. 6:30 PM and he could go home. It was official. He needed a vacation. He laughed to himself as he thought about it. He probably needed to see a shrink too, since he willingly submitted himself to the craziness that is County General everyday. Just then, the doors to the ER slammed open.

"75 year old man complaining of a lack of vision and shortness of breath," Pickman said.

**Scene 5:**

"Were you worried about being the only doctor available that morning?" Rachel Greene asked when Carter paused to fill up his coffee cup. "I know that's one of my biggest fears."

Carter sat back down at the table and asked the two young doctors for confirmation. "What's one of your biggest fears Rachel?"

Rachel answered hesitantly, as she was afraid of sounding stupid in front of both Wise and Carter. "You know…being overwhelmed because there are too many patients and not enough doctors to take care of everyone."

Julia Wise jumped in and agreed with Greene. "Yeah, I always feel like I've got more patients to keep track of than I can handle. Sometimes I get the feeling that I'm forgetting about someone."

"That is one of the things you learn as interns," Carter said to them. "On a busy shift you might have to juggle a dozen or more patients at a time. The key is to work smarter not harder."

"Smarter not harder?" Wise asked him quizzically. "What do you mean by that?"

"You have to learn how to prioritize your care," Carter responded. "You have to determine which patient needs your attention most at any given time and which patient can wait for a few minutes. There's nothing more frightening than being with a patient who is stable and fine and then hearing that another one of your patients is crashing because you prioritized wrong."

"How do you know what the right choice is?" Rachel Greene asked Carter. Greene had her notebook out and was taking notes as Carter was talking. Rachel felt pressure every day to live up to her last name. Her dad was a legend at County and she felt like she owed it to him to be the very best doctor she could possibly be. And if that meant she needed to take notes while Carter was telling a story, then that is what she would do.

"You trust your instincts. You learn. You make mistakes. You ask questions. You observe what the other doctors are doing," Carter told them. "And hopefully you aren't too proud to ask for help. Pride around here is what gets patients killed."

"In the story you only have the one patient though, right Dr. Carter?" Wise asked. "So you didn't have to worry about a balancing act. What made that one patient so difficult for you?"

"Sometimes one patient can be harder to deal with than having an entire ER full of patients." Carter said. "Sometimes that one patient puts you between a rock and a hard place…"

**Scene 6: **2002

"Hello sir, I'm Dr. Carter. Can I get your name?" Carter asked as they wheeled him into the trauma room.

"Tom…My name is Tom Stevens," the elderly man responded. He was visibly shaken up and looked frightened. His gray hair was frazzled and he certainly didn't look like a man who was planning on spending the day in the ER.

"Mr. Stevens, we're going to run some tests to see what the cause of your problems are," Carter explained to him. "Then we'll do our best to fix you up and get you out of here as soon as possible."

"It better be quick," Stevens said between coughs. "I don't like doctors and I hate hospitals even more."

Carter put his stethoscope to the man's chest and gave him some instructions. "Alright Mr. Stevens, I want you to take a deep breath in and the blow out for me."

"What is that going to do for me?" Stevens asked impatiently.

"I have to find the source of your shortness of breath before we can try to determine your lack of vision," Carter informed him. "Once we get the first thing figured out, we can tackle the second."

Stevens nodded in agreement and did what he was told. Not only did he not like hospitals, he wasn't too keen on the idea of dying today. He might be 75 years old but there was still so much he hadn't done yet, and he wasn't ready to call it a life quite yet.

"I've got good news for you Mr. Stevens," Carter started. "I can't hear any blockage in your lungs."

"What does that mean?" Stevens asked, taking any good news as a positive.

"It means that your shortness of breath is probably due to anxiety," Carter diagnosed. "Try to calm down and you should be able to breath normally soon. And if you need some help, we can provide you with a mild sedative to relax you."

"No drugs that aren't completely necessary," Stevens insisted. "I'll do just fine by myself." Stevens took another deep breath before continuing. "So what happens now? I mean with my sight and all."

"Haleh is going to take you up to CT so we can get a scan of your head. Hopefully we will be able to tell what's causing the lack of vision with the scan."

"Alright then, let's go to CT," Stevens said hurriedly. "I have a lot that I want to see."

**Scene 7:**

Rachel Greene took Carter's brief pause as an opportunity to ask more questions as she continued to take notes. "Are elderly patients the hardest to deal with usually?" she asked.

Carter dumped out the rest of his coffee and filled his coffee cup up with water and made a silent gesture for Julia Wise to put in her input before he answered the question himself. He looked at the two young doctors in the room and couldn't believe that he was now the mentor. It was 16 years ago that he was the bright eyed, eager student, who was ready to learn anything and everything he could that would make him a good doctor. Back then he relied on Dr. Greene and Dr. Benton for guidance. He never would have guessed that he would be providing that same guidance to the young up and coming doctors that now roamed County. His thoughts got interrupted when Wise started to share her observations.

"I actually like the older patients best," Wise stated. "They are genuine and they always have a lot of stories to tell. And they are to the point in their lives where they don't worry about censoring themselves. You always know what is on their mind. It is actually kind of refreshing."

"So what are the worst patients in your opinion?" Rachel asked her friend. "If it's not the old people, then who is it?"

"Drunks and high people," Wise said without much hesitation before slightly correcting herself. "I take that back," she said. "Drunk men are the worst. All they think about is sex and then they try to hit on you, probably hoping that they'll get some from you."

"How do you deal with them?" Greene asked.

"I try to ignore them as best as I can," Wise informed her. "That, and I try to make sure Malik or Yosh is around when I am with them. They don't try anything when another man is there, especially when it's Malik. I guess they are afraid of him or something." Wise laughed to herself as she was finishing up her explanation.

Rachel wrote down a few things from what Julia said and then looked back to Carter. "I'm sorry Dr. Carter," she said. "I didn't mean to interrupt your story. If I don't ask questions right away I have a tendency to forget them," she said laughing. "I'd like to hear the rest of your story."

"Yeah, so would I," Julia added. "What did you find out when you got Mr. Stevens' results back from CT? Were you able to restore his vision? He didn't die in the hospital did he?"

Carter laughed a little and smiled at the two doctors in front of him. "I'll get to all your questions, I promise. Now, where was I?"

**Scene 8:** 2002

"Damn!" Carter said as ripped Tom Stevens' x-ray off the machine angrily. He then gave a big sigh and headed back to Stevens' room to give him the bad news.

"Looks like someone kicked your dog Carter!" Mark Greene joked as he came up from behind him.

"Dr. Greene, I thought you were upstairs getting treatment," Carter said, a bit startled and embarrassed that he lost his cool in front of the well respected attending.

"Been there, down that," Greene said nonchalantly. "Now are you going to show me what you're cussing about?"

"It's nothing," Carter explained. "I just have to give this patient some bad news that I was hoping I wouldn't have to give."

Greene took the CT scan and put it back on the monitor, turning the monitor back on. "Before you go tell a patient that we can't do something, let's make sure that there is really nothing we can do."

Carter pointed to the spot of contention and told Greene his thoughts about his patient's situation. "He can't see because of this blood clot here," Carter said. "But it looks inoperable to me."

Greene saw the blood clot and then looked back to Carter. "Why do you think it's inoperable?"

"The clot is much too close to his retina," Carter stated matter-of-factly. "There is no way they could remove the clot while leaving the retina intact enough for him to be able to see out of that eye."

"Just because it would be a risky procedure, doesn't mean that it can't be done," Greene told Carter. "What have you told your patient?"

"Nothing yet," Carter said. "I was just about to go in and tell him there was nothing we could do to repair is sight."

"Present all the available options to your patient Carter and let him decide what risks he wants to take and what risks he doesn't," Greene said, giving the CT scan back to Carter.

"Mr. Stevens is in his mid seventies," Carter said. "At this point in his life he probably isn't going to want to take such a huge risk."

"It isn't our place to play god for people," Greene told Carter firmly. "I will go in and give Mr. Stevens his options and let him make the choice for himself."

**Scene 9:**

"Wait a second!" Rachel Greene exclaimed. "You never told me my dad was in this story!"

"County has always been a teaching hospital," Carter stated. "The success and failure of this hospital has always been tied to the teachers that ran it."

"Teachers?" Julia Wise asked. "I thought doctors ran this hospital."

"The thing that separates good doctors from mediocre doctors and good medical care from mediocre medical care is how well those doctors have been taught by doctors who came before them."

"And Rachel's dad taught you, Dr. Carter?" Julia Wise asked. "Did you learn a lot from him?"

"I'd like to think so," Carter responded. "But it was more than just teaching you how to diagnose and care for a patient. Everybody learns the same things in the classroom when it comes to helping your patients feel better so they can go home and get out of the ER. What I learned from Dr. Greene is something that I consider much more valuable than all of that."

"And that is?" Rachel asked as she was trying to keep up with both the story and the teaching moments of Carter's during the story's pauses.

"The value of life," Carter said, pausing for effect. "The idea that every patient, every situation, every case is different. Some patients will demand everything possible be done to help make them better, even if the odds of success are low. And other patients will refuse treatment that could help them live longer because they are tired of fighting." Carter was looking directly at Rachel as he said that last part.

Wise broke the eerie silence that now filled the room. "But as the doctor, isn't it your responsibility to do what is best for the patient?" she asked. "We have knowledge and training that they do not have, making us much more qualified to make life and death decisions than they are. We should be able to override their wishes if they are not making the right decisions."

Carter thought for a moment before continuing. "It is our job to present them with all the alternatives. The good. The bad. The odds. We can even offer our expert opinions to help them make up their mind. But at the end of the day, that is just it…it is only our opinion. They can use the information we give them as much or as little as they want."

"So what happens when the patients ask for miracles?" Rachel Greene asked.

"We hope to give one to them," Carter said with a smile.

**Scene 10: **2002

"Who the hell are you?" Tom Stevens asked Mark Greene as Greene entered the exam room with Carter following closely behind.

"My name is Dr. Greene. I am an attending here in the ER. Dr. Carter has filled me in on…" Greene started but was cut off by Stevens.

"Forgive me Dr. Greene," Stevens said. "Maybe it is my crappy vision, but from what I can tell, you don't feel any better than I do. What's your story?

Greene could tell that this elderly man was not in the mood for the run around, and Greene himself did not feel like trying to make up a story, so he decided to just go with the truth. "Brain tumor," Greene said without hesitation. "Inoperable brain tumor actually."

Stevens paused for a moment as he processed the information. "So I take it you are going to die then?" he asked trying to show the appropriate amount of sensitivity.

Greene felt both Carter and Stevens staring at him and waiting for an answer. "We are here to discuss your options Mr. Stevens. I understand that you want to keep your sight if possible?"

"Yes, yes I do," Stevens confirmed. "I still have kids to teach. I can't teach them very well if I don't have the ability to see the white board. Anything you can do to help me?"

"There is a procedure we can try," Greene informed him. "But it is not without risks. The clot is close enough to your retina that if there are complications, you could lose the entire eye."

"And if you don't operate is there a chance I will ever see out of this eye again?" Stevens asked as he was trying to figure out what decision he wanted to make.

"No," Greene answered quickly. "The operation is your only chance at regaining your sight. And even then, there are no guarantees."

"What would you say are my odds?" Stevens asked. As a longtime teacher, Tom Stevens taught his students to examine all the possibilities before making a big decision such as the one that was facing him. Once he had all the facts, Stevens could make a better educated guess as to what was his best option.

"50-50 at best with the operation," Greene stated. "Zero if you choose to forego the surgery."

"Worst case scenario is I lose my eye," Stevens said. "But losing the eye or having it and not being able to see is pretty much the same thing. I want to go for the surgery."

**Scene 11: **

"Were you surprised when he decided to go for the surgery?" Wise asked Carter. "Seems like a risky choice when your best odds are 50-50."

"I think it is a no-brainer," Rachel Greene interjected. "If he loses his eye or doesn't do the surgery, the result is going to be the same—he won't be able to see. So he might as well go for the surgery. He has nothing to lose."

"I actually was a little surprised he decided to go for the surgery," Carter answered Wise's question. "I don't think I would have been able to take such a risk if I was given the same choice. But then again, I'm not 75 years old. When I get to be that age, I might go for broke as well. It is tough to make definite assertions until you are faced with the same situation and circumstances."

"Why do you think my dad presented such a radical option to your patient?" Rachel Greene asked. "What made him think the operation was an acceptable risk but you did not?"

"It goes back to what I was saying about situation and circumstances," Carter explained. "Your dad was fighting for his life at that point. He was staring death in the face. He knew what it was like to go all-in. Once you have faced your own mortality, it is much easier to suggest things that the rest of us would never even think of."

"Does that make you a better doctor?" Wise asked. "You know, being able to see all the options, regardless of risk, and then being confident enough to talk to your patients about some of them?"

Carter thought for a minute before answering the young doctor's question. "There's a risk/reward in this business. Sometimes the biggest rewards are results of the biggest risks we take. Those miracles that people are always looking for…they come when a doctor makes a radical decision and it actually works out. Miracles don't happen every day. But when they do, it is the best feeling in the world. The knowing that you saved someone's life, or dramatically altered their life for the better, that is why we do this."

"Isn't wrong to give people false hope though?" Wise asked as both Wise and Greene continued taking notes. "If you know that there is nothing that can be done, you shouldn't make promises that you can't possibly keep, right?"

"One of the first lessons you learn when talking to patients: never speak in absolutes. In this profession there are no absolutes. Give people their options, tell them the likelihood that those options will be successful, but never promise things that you do not have total control over. During a trauma, any number of things can happen that you did not foresee, making it impossible for you to know 100% exactly how everything will work itself out."

"So what happened to Mr. Stevens?" Rachel Greene asked anxiously. "Can he see?"

**Scene 12: **2002

Dr. Robert Romano, the Chief of Surgery, stormed through the ER, furious at the decision that one of the ER doctors made. "Where in the hell is Greene!" he demanded. "And somebody find Weaver! I'm tired of the so-called doctors down here making power plays that anyone in their right mind would not do! Oh wait, that's right…Greene's brain has had so much radiation that he probably can't tie his shoes anymore!"

"Dr. Greene is looking at x-rays with Carter," nurse Lydia Grabarsky said quietly. "Don't look at us, we didn't do it."

"I'll deal with Greene! He won't dare do something this stupid again!" Romano declared. As he walked away from the admit desk, he purposely knocked a stack of paperwork to the ground. "You Asians are good at cleaning, right?" he snickered at Lily as he walked away.

Romano approached Carter and Greene with even more anger than he had just shown the nurses. "Dr. Carter," he started. "If you want to keep your job here I suggest you stay away from Greene and get the hell out of my face. It seems Dr. Greene's brain tumor has made him incompetent. Or a maybe a moron. Or better yet, both!"

Greene turned to Romano and stared him straight in the eye. A lot of the doctors were intimidated by Dr. Romano and his abrasive personality, but Greene never was. He had been at County longer than anyone: Romano, Weaver, Carter, Anspaugh, and he did not let anyone push him around. "Care to share what your problem is?" Greene asked Romano.

"You're my problem!" Romano barked. "You and the stupid ass promises you make regarding patients and surgery. That old man you sent up there…I'm sending him back down here. No one from my staff is going to perform a procedure that has no chance of helping this man!"

"I presented Mr. Stevens his options and this is what he wanted," Greene said calmly.

"Yeah, and I want to marry a Swedish supermodel! We can't all have what we want," Romano shot back.

"Robert, either you can do the surgery or I will find someone else. I'm sure Elizabeth and Peter would have no problem performing this task. I understand if you don't think you are capable of doing it," Greene retorted.

"Ha!" Romano laughed. "I can do something simple enough as removing a clot from an eye." He grabbed the chart out of Greene's hand and started to walk away. "Oh and Greene," he said as he reached the elevator. "You pull another stunt like this and I will end your career!"

**Scene 13:**

"I'm glad there isn't a doctor around here like Romano anymore," Julia Wise exclaimed. "I probably would have quit the first day."

"Yeah, whatever happened to him anyway?" Rachel Greene asked. Rachel remembered hearing about him from her dad but never found out why he was no longer working at County. Now that Romano was part of the story, it seemed like the perfect time to find out what happened to him.

"Helicopter crushed him like a bug," Archie Morris said with a laugh. "I remember that day…Romano hated my guts!"

Wise and Greene turned around, surprised to hear Dr. Morris' voice. "When did you come in here?" Wise asked the attending.

"A few minutes ago," Morris responded. "You guys have been in here for nearly an hour, so I wanted to see what was so interesting in here."

"Dr. Carter is telling us a story about how he and my dad pushed for a risky procedure to try to help a patient," Rachel informed him. "We are just getting to the good part. Ok Dr. Carter, how did the surgery go? Did Stevens get his sight back?"

Carter paused for a second for dramatic effect. "The surgery was…a success. Romano was able to restore Mr. Stevens' sight."

"I bet Stevens was very thankful you guys did everything you could to help him," Wise said. "It looks like the risk you guys took paid off."

"Do you know if he is still alive Dr. Carter?" Rachel asked, knowing the story was about over.

Carter couldn't help but laugh as he thought back to that time. "He died a week later," he said with a grin. "Hell of a way to go out too!"

"After all that, the man died?" Wise asked in shock. "What happened to him?"

"He was so happy that he could see again that he took his class on a white water rafting trip," Carter explained. "Apparently the raft hit a rapid, and he was thrown into the water. He hit his head on a rock and was dead instantly."

"If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the minnow would be lost…" Morris started singing the theme to Gilligan's island as he walked out of the doctor's lounge.

"Wow, totally didn't see that coming," Rachel Greene said in shock.

**Scene 14: **2002

Carter found Mark Greene outside shooting baskets in the cold Chicago night. Carter still could not believe that Greene was dying. He could not imagine County without him. Yes Weaver ran the ER, and Romano was Chief of Surgery, but Mark Greene was their leader. He was the best teacher of any doctor in the ER. He would challenge upper management's decisions when he thought they were wrong. He would defend some of the younger doctors if Weaver started coming down too hard on them. Yes, Mark Greene was a legend at County and he would be missed.

"That was a pretty amazing thing you did today for that old man," Carter told his mentor as he started rebounding for him. "Why were you willing to offer such a risk to him?"

"The man wanted to see Carter," Greene said as he still focused on shooting the ball. "If he wanted to see I was going to do everything I could to make sure that he got that chance. You would have done the same thing."

Carter shook his head. "Actually, I don't think I would have," he stated with a hint of regret in his words. "I'm not Mark Greene. I don't think I would ever be able to make such a gutsy call."

"You'll learn Carter, you'll learn," Greene said as he continued shooting. "It's like basketball…just takes some practice.

Carter laughed. "I was never very good at basketball, Dr. Greene. Or any sports really. I guess I am not much of an athlete."

"Perfect," Greene said as he passed the ball to Carter. "You and me, one-on-one. First one to 11 wins the game. I'll even let you have first shot."

Carter looked down at the ball in his hands and then back to his dying friend. "Dr. Ross was always the basketball player, not me. I'll just make myself look stupid."

"Doug isn't here," Greene said, motioning for Carter to start shooting. "Come on Carter, I don't have all day. I'm a dying man and all," he finished with a laugh.

"Ok, I'll take you on," Carter said confidently. He tool two dribbles and shot the ball standing still, his feet never leaving the ground. The ball touched nothing but the net. Carter was shocked that he made his first shot. "Maybe I should have played basketball," he joked. "I could have been the white Michael Jordan!"

Mark Greene got the ball out of the basket, and looked up at the sky before passing it back to Carter. "Hindsight is 20/20 Carter. I wouldn't quit your day job if I was you."


End file.
